WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The of the included a tutorial on pronouncing Kamala Harris' name 鈥� featuring none other than the candidate's great nieces.
The actress introduced the girls by saying 鈥渋t's come to my attention that there are some folks who struggle 鈥� or pretend to struggle 鈥� with the proper pronunciation of our future president鈥檚 name.鈥�
She added, 鈥淐onfusion is understandable. Disrespect is not. So tonight we are going to help everyone get it right.鈥�
Out came Amara, 8, in a pink pant suit and Leela, 6, in a light blue frilly dress. They're the daughters of Harris' .
鈥淔irst you say 鈥榗omma鈥� like the comma in a sentence,鈥� Amara said.
"Then you say 鈥榣a鈥� like la-la-la-la-la," added Leela.
鈥淥K, let鈥檚 practice,鈥� Washington said.
Amara pointed stage left and said, 鈥淓verybody over here say comma!鈥�
Leela turned to stage right and said, "Everybody over here say la!鈥�
The United Center roared in response 鈥� 鈥淐omma! La!鈥�
Some of the speakers at the Democratic National Convention have stumbled over Harris' first name, including former President Bill Clinton who said it as 鈥淐AM-UH-LA鈥� in his speech on Wednesday night.
Others played it safe. When Leon Panetta spoke, that the teleprompter said 鈥淐omma-la.鈥�
Republican candidate Donald Trump has relished opportunities to mangle the pronunciation, which Democrats describe as a sign of disrespect.
He usually says 鈥淜ah-MAH-la.鈥� When asked why, Trump said last month that he had heard Harris鈥� first name said 鈥渁bout seven different ways.鈥�
鈥淚 said, 鈥楧on鈥檛 worry about it, it doesn鈥檛 matter what I say,,鈥�" Trump said. "I couldn鈥檛 care less.鈥�
Chris Megerian, The Associated Press
