Kamala Harris has raised eyebrows on the presidential campaign trail for using ‘fake accents’ that experts suggest could be a result of a confidence issue.
Harris, who was born in California and spent some of her childhood in Canada, has been accused of putting on Midwestern, Southern and even French accents during depending on who her audience is.
And just today, social media erupted after a video of the vice president appeared to speak with a Spanish twang while talking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual Leadership Conference
Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert, who owns a practice in New York, said there are two main reasons people alter their accents, which in psychology circles is known as ‘mirroring’ or the ‘chameleon effect.’
Vice President Kamala Harris has come under fire recently for claims she puts on a ‘fake accent’ when speak at events attended by people of color. Experts suggested the switch could be a result of her feeling self-conscious
The latest ‘fake accent’ took Americans by surprise.
Harris appeared to say ‘I love you back’ with a Spanish twang to a group of her supporters on Wednesday.
Some do it out of empathy, so others find them trustworthy and to show they want to experience another person’s emotions.
Others put on different accents to fit in because they feel like an outsider of a group and want to conform.
Alpert told DailyMail.com that he thinks that is the case with Harris.
‘Using a fake accent could also be a result of feeling self-conscious around a particular group and feeling like she has to make changes to her baseline voice in order to be accepted – to some extent this a natural and normal way to handle people we might perceive as different than ourselves,’ Alpert said.
‘There’s a possibility she feels like she won’t fit in, so she overcompensates by taking this whole accent thing to the extreme.
‘I think there could be an element of Harris trying to gain acceptance across these different demographics. But again, I think it’s backfiring.’
As well as shaping her accent to suit certain groups, Harris has also been accused of shaping her policy stances to fit what is currently popular.
In 2020, at the height of the George Floyd protests, Harris endorsed the ‘defund the police’ movement in an interview with the hosts of the Ebro in the Morning show.
This was a stark difference from when she ran for Attorney General of California in 2010, her ad production imitated the tense proficiency of a Law and Order episode.
‘Our justice system needs drastic repair,’ Harris said as she walked confidently with law enforcement officers, hair blowing in the wind as a helicopter buzzed overhead.
She has also said that she would shut down Donald Trump’s border wall project and once called it a ‘medieval vanity project’ and a ‘waste of taxpayer.’
But in August, Harris has allegedly and suddenly vowed to sign a bill that would allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to continue building a wall along the southern border, according to a report.
Harris was a major supporter of the Green New Deal in 2019, which call for public policy to address climate change, but this year she swore of off any prior assertion that she opposed fracking in a bid to win battleground Pennsylvania.
Harris appeared to say ‘I love you back’ with a spanish accent while speaking at the at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual Leadership Conference
Harris come under fire in July 2024 when she adopted a languorous southern drawl during at a Georgia rally
Years before running as the Democrat nominee, the vice president was criticized for saying ‘The Plan’ with a French twist while speaking to scientists in Paris
While her shift in policies has come under fire over the years, her ‘fake accent’ has taken center stage in the last few months and some Americans have viewed it as superficial.
‘By altering her accent she might be perceived as inauthentic or manipulative and ultimately could undermine trust if the audience feels she is not genuine,’ said Alpert.
‘Authenticity is critical in building meaningful connections with the electorate and if people perceive the accent as disingenuous, it could damage Harris’s credibility.
‘In Harris’ attempt to connect with a specific group, there is a risk of alienating other audiences.
‘If her accent change is seen as pandering or insincere, it might alienate people who view it as a superficial attempt to fit in rather than a genuine expression of solidarity.’
Harris is not the only human to have put on a different speech, as many Americans have and some experts believe their is a social aspect to the chameleon effect – subconsciously replicating the physical actions of another human.
Dr Nan Wise, a licensed psychotherapist who has appeared on The Today Show, said: ‘When you talk to children, you’re gonna sound different, right.
‘When you talk to old people, you’re gonna sound different. And even if you talk to people who are not native language speakers you automatically adjust.’
Dr Wise also noted that Harris’ strange accent is something ‘we humans do automatically kind of a matching and a mimicry, noting it is done unconsciously.
‘Human beings are very social animals, and some of this accommodation goes along with the way we’re wired to connect and to unintentionally mimic aspects of our social environments,’ she explained.
However, a 2021 study led by the University of Pennsylvania found that code-switching is a thought-out behavior.
Dr Wise also claimed that the accent makes Harris appear trustworthy, but Alpert suggested it could be doing the opposite.
‘By altering her accent she might be perceived as inauthentic or manipulative and ultimately could undermine trust if the audience feels she is not genuine,’ he said.
‘Authenticity is critical in building meaningful connections with the electorate and if people perceive the accent as disingenuous, it could damage Harris’s credibility.’
Harris put on the ‘fake accent’ during a press conference September 17 while speaking to in a discussion with the journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists.
Harris spoke at The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 53rd Annual Legislative Conference Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner this month where she was criticized for ‘code-switching’
The code-switching, when a person alternates between languages in a conversation, is not a recent behavior for Harris as she adopted a languorous southern drawl during at a Georgia rally in July 2024.
But years before in 2021, she was accused of slipping into a cod French accent while speaking to scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
The vice president is half Jamaican and half Indian, and spent her childhood in San Francisco and Canada.
Danielle Wade, a licensed clinical social worker, wrote in MedicalNewsToday: ‘Some perceive it as a negative because it may reinforce stereotypes.’
But she noted that the behavior could be ‘a way of preserving one’s identity and culture.’
Harris is not the first presidential candidate to switch up their speech as Hilary Clinton came under fire for the same behavior during a 2015 campaign stop in Columbia, South Carolina.
Clinton, who grew up in Chicago, put on a southern drawl during an event with minority women small-business owners.
Dr Yalda Safai, a psychiatrist in New York City, said that Clinton has long tried to use fake accents to appear relatable, but ‘it just feel completely flat’ among American voters.
On the other hand, Alpert explained how people respect political figures who are more true to themselves.
‘Bill Clinton, I thought, was masterful at that,’ he continued.
‘I thought he just resonated with whoever he was speaking to, from highly educated New Yorkers to poor people, he just he always seemed to be true to himself, and was widely accepted.
‘I think the same is true with Donald Trump. We’ve all heard the description, the Blue Collar billionaire. He just speaks his mind and is consistent across the different speeches and audiences.’
