Kamala Harris accused of code-switching during Detroit speech

Kamala Harris again faces allegations for changing her accent, this time during a speech at a teachers’ union in Michigan.

Critics accuse the vice president nominee of adopting a ‘fake accent’ while addressing union members at a Detroit high school on Monday. Social media users claimed she altered her voice to connect with the audience, sparking online debate.

Harris has previously faced similar accusations. With just two months until election day, these claims have resurfaced. One X user commented, “New Kamala accent just dropped,” in reaction to a clip of Harris speaking at the event.

During her remarks, Harris is said to have used an urban accent to appeal to the working-class crowd. She stated, “You may not be a union member but you better thank a union member for the five-day work week,” in a tone different from her usual speeches.

She continued, “You better thank a union member for sick leave. You better thank a union member for paid leave. You better thank a union member for vacation time.”

An X user sarcastically commented, “I’m from California. We all talk like this,” alongside a phonetic spelling of Harris’s speech. When an audience member mentioned her future beyond the 2024 election, Harris, still using the accent, replied with a smile, “Let’s just get through the next 64 days.”

Harris was in Detroit on Labour Day, speaking at Northwestern High School about unions’ contributions. The vice president, of Jamaican and Indian descent, has been accused by the Trump campaign of using her racial background for political gain.

🔥🚨BREAKING: Kamala Harris has been caught changing her accent for Black people after she delivered the same exact line in a speech earlier today in Detroit with a southern Black accent and again in Pittsburgh with her regular accent a few hours later. pic.twitter.com/YK4nkb7uqM

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) September 2, 2024

Trump remarked during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago that Harris only started “promoting” her blackness when she ran for president.

Journalist Jonathan Choe noted on X that Harris was employing code-switching to connect with the predominantly Black and urban audience. “Kamala Harris code switching again as she busts out a new accent at a rally in Detroit,” he wrote.

Harris also faced mockery in July for using a Southern accent during a rally in Atlanta, Georgia. She told voters, “You all helped us win in 2020 and we gonna do it again in 2024,” in a Southern drawl. Harris, who grew up in San Francisco and spent her high school years in Montreal, often adopts a Southern accent when speaking to Southern communities.

In the 2020 campaign trail, Harris was criticised for extending her vowels during an event in Florida, saying, “We will tell them we were hangin’ out in a parking lot this particular Saturday afternoon with Kamala and all our friends.”

Outkick writer Ian Miller joked that Harris might adopt a British accent on a future trip to England. Another pro-MAGA account, End Wokeness, commented, “BREAKING: Kamala Harris unveils a new urban accent in Detroit,” while another user described it as “cringe pandering,” accusing Harris of using the accent to appeal to a specific demographic.