The near impossibility of speaking with MAGA about Harris

Trumpers who call my show can't even bring themselves to pronounce the vice president's first name correctly. It disrespects her, of course. But they're jabbing us too. Best to shut them down. (Audio)

As listeners to my SiriusXM program know, I take calls from Trump supporters because I think spirited debate—if that can even happen—is in all our best interests. I like to debate them so that listeners might get tips and techniques on how to deal with their own friends and families who are MAGA.

There aren't a lot of them who call in—a few a day—and I often don't have time to get to them. But I'm hopeful there could be civilized discussion, so when I have time I take the call.

Often, it doesn’t get far, however, as they’re trolls or nasty conspiracy mongers. But once in a while there’s a decent, civil discussion, even if the caller is misinformed and I have to point out truths.

But lately they can’t even get past stating Kamala Harris’ name correctly, pronouncing it like Trump does, with the emphasis on the second syllable: Ka-MA-la. Recently, Corey Lewandowski did this with Jim Acosta on CNN—and Acosta cut him off and ended the interview.

That’s the way to handle them. I, too, have not been putting up with it. And honestly, calling the vice president by her first name—even if pronounced correctly—can be a bit sexist, depending on who’s saying it (I get it when people do it in an endearing way, for example), treating her as unserious. We generally call politicians—certainly male politicians—by their last names. We say Trump, not Donald.

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Last week, Dianne from California called and did it—mispronouncing the first name—and after I corrected her, she claimed she is “Hispanic” and thus had permission to do it. I explained that it’s not a Hispanic name, but she ignored that and went on to attack Harris for having a beer with Stephen Colbert while people were suffering in North Carolina. (You can listen below.)

I explained that Harris actually spoke with Colbert about North Carolina and the terrible devastation, and that she visited the state. When she came back with another mispronunciation, I just had to ask her if it would be respectful I called her Dionne instead of Dianne.

“How childish are you? How silly are you?” I asked, explaining she really made Trumpers look bad.

That set her off further, and she claimed she wasn’t MAGA, and still refused to say Harris’ first name correctly. I had to dump her.

Then there was Paul from Colorado. This one was an earache. He called in and told our producer I was lying about information. So I put him on to hear what he thought I was lying about. But right out of the gate, he discussed Ka-MA-la.

When I called him out on it, he then claimed he didn't say it. He then proceeded to try to program the show and ask me questions. I told him, No, I’m not here to answer your questions. You called to claim I was lying, so tell us what your issues are.

Paul then said Harris had no experience—which is ridiculous—and that I was spewing rhetoric. I then explained to him that Harris had more experience than most people who ran for president.

He then claimed I wasn’t letting him speak, that I “cut” him off. They always do this when I respond to them to correct their falsehoods or counter their opinions.

Then he wasted his time telling me I wasn’t letting him speak when I gave him the floor, until I flagged him for wasting time and said, “Go ahead.”

And then, once again, he began with Ka-MA-la.

And I once again had to stop him and correct him.

He then, like Dianne, tried to imply that he wasn’t a Trump supporter by calling Trump “cheeto-head.”

But then, once again, he said Ka-MA-la.

And I just had to let him go. (You can listen to that call too above.)

This all may seem superficial. But it’s not. These people cannot have a rational discussion about politics and this election because they refuse to start from a place of respect and correctly pronounce the Democratic candidate’s name, disrespecting her.

They’re, in turn, telling you, from the very beginning, that they have no respect for you either. It’s arrogance and hostility—in addition to being childish—and you can’t have a productive conversation with someone like that.