In her rare interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, Drew Barrymore urged the vice president to be the “Country Momala.”
Harris, who was defending President Biden, joined Barrymore for an episode of her daytime talk show, which aired Monday. Throughout the interview, the two discussed many topics, including Harris’ polarizing laugh.
Then, during an embarrassing moment, Barrymore nicknamed the vice president ‘Momala.’
“I’ve been thinking that we all really need a huge hug in the world right now,” Barrymore said.
Barrymore, who had scooted uncomfortably close to Harris on the couch, continued to plead with the vice president to become a “mother” to all of America: “But in our country, we need you to be the country’s Momala.”
Harris joined actress Drew Barrymore on her daytime talk show, where the two sat unusually close together on the large couch. In a moment of embarrassment, Barrymore called an unamused Kamala Harris ‘Momala’.
“I’ve been thinking that we all really need a big hug in the world right now,” Barrymore said, before adding, “But in our country, we need you to be the country’s Momala.”
Harris smiled and seemed unsure how to respond to the new nickname.
‘Yes, I mean,’ the vice president said without finishing her thought.
Barrymore then leaned forward and took Harris’s hands as the audience applauded. The actress stared into the vice president’s eyes with a soulful look, while Harris seemed to feel a little uncomfortable.
At another point in the interview, Harris defended her laughter and suggested that those who mock her are exhibiting a form of sexism.
“You were asking me before what it means to be the first woman (vice president),” Harris told Barrymore.
“And you know, it’s funny because people still have to get used to this, right?”
Harris then claimed that an example of persistent misogyny in which the public adjusts to having a female vice president is when people pay more attention to her laughter or mannerisms.
‘I mean, my staff, for example, sometimes show me little things that just amuse me. Apparently some people love to talk about the way I laugh,” Harris said.
Barrymore, squeezing the vice president onto the couch, said enthusiastically, “Oh, yes.” OK. I love your laugh.’
Harris has been considered unlikable and even the Democratic National Committee held focus groups on the vice president to understand why voters dislike her, according to a report this month.
Some voters in the focus groups cited his laughter and others in the group questioned whether President Joe Biden even likes him.
The 59-year-old’s approval rating sits in the mid-30s, a record low for the modern vice presidency, as she spent her first three years in office battling bad headlines.
During the interview, Vice President Kamala Harris suggested that Americans are showing their sexism when they make fun of their laughter.
Critics who claim Harris is unlikeable often cite her laugh as one of the reasons she annoys people. The vice president’s approval rating is around 30
“I have my mother’s laugh,” Harris detailed to Barrymore. And I grew up around a group of women, in particular, who laughed out loud. They laughed, sat in the kitchen and drank coffee, telling great stories with great laughs.’
“You know, I’ll never be like that,” Harris said before faking a delicate laugh into his hand.
The Democrat continued her story: ‘It’s just that I’m not that person. And I think it’s very important that we remind each other and the younger ones: don’t limit yourself to other people’s perception of what this is like and who you should act, how you should act to be right.’
‘It’s really important. It’s, it’s important,’ she concluded.
Barrymore, known for her empathetic interview style, responded, “I love your laugh and I love that message.”