US Vice President Kamala Harris has shared her reaction to the people who like to focus on one of her natural traits — her laugh. Appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show earlier this week, Harris revealed that some people love to talk about the way she laughs.
“You were asking me earlier about what it means to be like the first woman,” Harris said. “And you know, it’s funny because people still gotta get used to this, right?”
“I mean, my staff, for example, sometimes they’ll show me little things that just amuse me. Like, apparently, some people love to talk about the way I laugh.”
Barrymore, the host, responded by telling Harris she loved her laugh.
Harris said, “I have my mother’s laugh and I grew up around a bunch of women in particular who laughed from the belly. They laughed — they would sit around the kitchen and drinking their coffee, telling big stories with big laughs.”
Harris stressed she is not the sort of individual to change her behaviour according to other people’s opinions.
“I’m just not that person, and I think it’s really important for us to remind each other and our younger ones: don’t be confined to other people’s perception about what this looks like, how you should act in order to be. Right? It’s really important,” she said.
Barrymore kicked off her interview with the 59-year old by asking her about her role as a step-mother to her partner’s two children.
For Harris, the term “step” is not in her vocabulary.
“We kind of don’t use the term “step” because… Disney kind of mess that up for a lot of us over the years, you know the evil step parent,” she said, before revealing that her partner’s children call her “Momala.”
Barrymore responded by telling Harris, “I keep thinking in my head that we all need a mum.”
“I’ve been really thinking we really all need a tremendous hug in the world now, but in our country we need you to be ‘Momala’ of the country.”
The comment has drawn mixed reactions, including many who describe the moment as “cringe.”
On X, one user said — “‘Momala’ is INSANE. Not it’s up to a black woman to rock us in her bosom and heal our wounds.”
In mid-2019, Harris revealed on her socials that she loves the term “Momala.”
“Of all the titles I’ve ever had, Momala is my favorite,” she wrote on Instagram.
Harris also explained her definition of strength.
“Sadly over the last many years, there has been this kind of perverse approach to what strength looks like, which is to suggest that the measure of one’s strength is based on who you beat down, instead of what we know the true measure of your strength is based on who we lift up,” she said.
“If you ever want to measure… if you ever just want some objective indication of your individual power, see what you can do to help other people in need and it could be just a… you know, a simple act.”
Harris suggested the action could take the form of simply having some interest in someone else and listening to how people are feeling.
“To sincerely have some interest and care and concern about their well being or their suffering,” she continued. “And I think we all know that’s what we want in each other. That’s what we want from leaders, but let’s be intentional about it and open about saying, you know, that’s really what strength looks like. And that’s the kind of thing that we want.”
Her comments echoed her words from a recent appearance she made on the “I’ve Had It” podcast, where she told hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan that “It’s not a sign of weakness to have empathy.”
“That’s the kind of character trait of real leaders, to have some level of care and concern for the suffering of other people,” she said.