Hope and Cringe: Obama Endorses Woman He Belittled With Sexualized Remark
WARNING: The following article contains a graphic description of misogynistic language that many experts have described as the rhetorical equivalent of sexual violence. Please proceed with caution.
Barack Obama, the celebrity memoirist and Netflix producer who also served as president of the United States, finally endorsed Kamala Harris this week amid reports that he doubted her ability to beat Donald Trump.
The endorsement is notable because of the sexualized comments Obama made about Harris at a fundraiser in 2013, several years before the #MeToo movement exposed how arrogant men routinely belittle successful women by obsessing over their looks.
"You have to be careful to, first of all, say she is brilliant," Obama said at the Atherton, Calif., home of John Goldman, heir to the Levi Strauss denim fortune. "She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country. Kamala Harris is here!"
Obama eventually apologized to Harris, who was not yet married at the time, for his belittling and sexualized remarks, which were widely condemned as misogynistic. It was hardly the first time Obama was called out for sexist behavior. For example, numerous female White House staffers accused him of fostering a "work atmosphere that marginalizes and ignores women."
Several months after the Harris incident, Obama was caught blatantly flirting with then-Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela while his controversial wife, Michelle, looked on in disgust.
Michelle also endorsed Harris this week. The former first couple called the vice president, who just happened to be surrounded by cameras and boom mics to capture the moment for posterity. (Or a Netflix documentary.) "Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office," Obama told Harris over the phone.
"This means so much to me," Harris replied. "And we're going to have some fun with this, too, aren't we?"
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