(BrightPress.org) – Vice President Kamala Harris dropped the “f-bomb” during a speech at the annual Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Legislative Leadership Summit as the event was live-streamed on the White House website.
Harris, the first vice president of Asian descent, was speaking passionately to a group of young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders about breaking barriers in politics and life in general when she uttered the expletive. She gave a lengthy speech urging the group of young people to be confident in themselves and be true to their heritage. She told them that if a door is not left open for them, “you need to kick that f***ing door down.” The audience applauded with clapping and spirited laughter. Harris herself laughed and said, “Excuse my language.” Jimmy O. Yang, the moderator joked that a t-shirt with the slogan “kick that f***ing door down” should be made.
Harris normally refrains from using profanity in public speeches. According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Harris’ choice of language shows that she was “passionate” about her message.
The amount of profanity used by lawmakers and politicians has drastically increased since 2017, especially in social media posts. Professor Ben Bergen from the University of California-San Diego wrote a book about the psychology of swearing. Bergen claims that humans enter “fight or flee” when they hear profanity. Politicians provoke this reaction with profanity to make the audience ready to pay attention to their message, especially if the audience is already in agreement. Swearing in front of those already opposed to the message, however, may have the opposite effect. Audience members may interpret the use of profanity as the speaker being “unhinged,” overly emotional, or “out of control.”
Some people may consider politicians who use profanity as being more honest and passionate about their cause.
Harris’s mother is from India, and her father is Jamaican. She is the first female vice president of the U.S., as well as the first minority VP.
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