'Grave concern': Writer says Trump left crestfallen by her reaction to 'Kambala' nickname
Donald Trump has been trying a new nickname for Vice President Kamala Harris in his Truth Social posts, but it seems to be missing its mark.
Several commenters have said his "Kambala" moniker makes no sense. Now New York Magazine's Olivia Nuzzi described the ex-president's crestfallen disappointment when he tried out the name during a recent interview — and saw a lack of comprehension on her face.
“Well, I have a name. You saw the new name?” Trump proudly asked when the writer sat down with him at Mar-a-Lago. When she replied that she hadn't, he unveiled it.
“Kamabla,” he said.
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Sitting beside Trump was his communications director, Steven Cheung, who also sang out the nickname.
"Trump nodded. He gave me an expectant look, but I was confused. He repeated it again. 'Kamabla,'" she wrote, confused as to what it meant.
"Just a … mixed-up … pile of words. Like she is,” Trump said.
Nuzzi described trying to pronounce it but noted she was "still struggling."
MSNBC producer Steve Benen wrote about the name last month, saying that no one seems to understand it. At the time, he speculated that it might not be a nickname but a typo.
"Is he calling Kamala Harris 'blah'? Referencing Obama? Just being racist?" asked another New York Magazine senior editor after Trump used the name.
Nuzzi said, "Trump stopped what he was saying and stared at me with a look of grave concern and disappointment.
“Well, you have to see it to really understand,” Trump claimed. "There are those that think it’s good. ”
She noted he still seemed a bit uneasy asking his communications director if he liked it.
“It’s a good troll,” Cheung said. It turns out he was the one who "invented" the name.
“Yeah,” he said, “I come up with a lot of things.”
Nuzzi noted that the name hasn't been used much since then.
A New York Times report last month noted that Trump has struggled with remembering how to pronounce Harris' name. Then again, the report said, "During his primary race he repeatedly butchered the name of Nikki Haley, another woman of Indian heritage.”