Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Thursday, but one response in particular caught attention online.
Harris repeated the word “holistic” three times to emphasize a point about increasing available housing.
“For example, some of the work will be done through what we do in terms of providing benefits and assistance to state and local governments around transit money,” he first responded.
“…and look holistically at the connection between that and housing, and look holistically at the incentives that we can create in the federal government for local and state governments to really engage in planning in a holistic way that includes prioritizing affordable housing for workers,” Harris explained to Ruhle.
The elaborate emphasis on the word “holistic” left viewers baffled as to what Harris was saying as critics attacked her latest word salad on social media.
Kamala Harris Talks Economy With MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle
The Trump campaign seized the moment and recorded the video for its supporters.
“Kamala seems to have recently learned the word ‘holistically,’” the story read.
Others made the same observation.
“Kamala has learned the word holistic, guys. She uses it three times in less than thirty seconds. Smart people don’t talk like that,” conservative radio host Clay Travis wrote on social media.
“People who try to appear intelligent do so,” he continued.
“Kamala learned a new word… ‘holistic.’ Watch her proudly use it three times in 15 seconds,” comedian Tim Young wrote.
“Today’s new word on Kamala’s word buffet: ‘Holistic,'” said Mike Davis of the Article 3 Project.
A review of Harris’ transcripts indicates the vice president has used the word from time to time in prepared speeches.
But he’s using it increasingly during his presidential campaign as he tries to detail ways he plans to fix the problems.
Harris also leaned on the word “holistic” during her conversation with the National Association of Black Journalists earlier this month.
Kamala Harris Talks to MSNBC About the Economy
Kamala Harris interviewed by the National Association of Black Journalists
“The trauma that exists in communities around the violence of losing their children, losing a brother, losing a father, an uncle, all of that needs to be addressed and we need to have a holistic response,” he said, when asked about how he planned to address gun violence.
She continued: “It’s about understanding what we need to do to, again, understand that, as you say, we need to have a holistic response to this problem and prioritize it, rather than reacting to the tragedy which, unfortunately, is all too predictable.”
Throughout her career as vice president, Harris has had moments in interviews where she struggles to explain herself, sometimes dodging the question and focusing on defining the problem.
