Political watchers were scratching their heads after Vice President Kamala Harris seemed to deploy a Gallic tint to certain words during a tour of the Pasteur Institute.
“In government, we campaign with ‘The Plan,’” Ms. Harris said. “Uppercase T, uppercase P. ‘The Plan!’ And then the environment is such we’re expected to defend ‘The Plan’ even when the first time we roll it out there may be some glitches and it’s time to reevaluate and then do it again.”
Ms. Harris seemed to awkwardly slip into a French accent each time she said “The Plan.”
GOP operatives made hay with the viral clip.
“Kamala ‘Cringe’ Harris visits a group of French scientists and speaks to them as if they’re toddlers, lamenting that people expect their elected officials to keep their promises,” GOP Rapid Response aide Jake Schneider tweeted.
Ms. Harris toured the institute as part of a multiday trip to Paris to shore up ties with French President Emmanuel Macron and raise her profile and own approval ratings, which have sunk alongside President Biden’s amid challenges in Washington.
SEE ALSO: Harris: France wants to join the Artemis Accords, a major space-exploration pact
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ridiculed Ms. Harris.
“The clip from Vice President Harris is just it’s more than embarrassing on the world stage,” Mr. Pompeo told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “Our adversaries watch that and see weakness. They see people who aren’t serious, they see people who aren’t determined, precisely the opposite of what we did for four years. It feels a lot more like the Carter administration in terms of how they view America as a danger to the world and apologize everywhere they go.”
• Dave Boyer contributed to this article.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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