While Kevin McCarthy was struggling to become House speaker earlier this month, Vice President Kamala Harris was presiding over the Senate as usual.
Harris was swearing in the new senators… and she mocked one of them.
She was swearing in the newly re-elected Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and she did an impression of his voice.
“Hello, madam vice president,” Bennet said. “Thank you very much!”
“Hello, Sen. Bennet,” Harris responded, stonefaced, in a deep voice. “You’re welcome.”
Then, Harris broke into her characteristic laugh.
Some Harris supporters found the clip funny, and they compared it favorably to the sitcom Veep.
One Capitol Hill staffer tweeted, “The Veep should do more of this Veep stuff.” Another Twitter user responded, “This feels very Veep vibes.”
But in Veep, the fictional vice president is usually laughed at, not laughed with.
Other viewers simply expressed amazement at Harris’ energy levels during this long, rote ceremony. “I am in awe of her extroversion and energy as I watched most of the swearing ins yesterday,” a third person said on Twitter.
Take a look —
While we were all busy watching Kevin McCarthy fall apart, we missed VP Kamala Harris doing an impression of Sen. Bennet’s deep voice during his swearing in and it’s hilarious. pic.twitter.com/3Lug1fUAvM
— Nate Morris (@_natemorris) January 4, 2023
Harris herself served in the Senate from 2017 to 2021, and she overlapped with Bennet during that time. Now, she’s serving as president of the Senate.
Both Harris and Bennet ran for president in 2020. Bennet ended his longshot campaign after the first primary. Harris dropped out even earlier, in December 2019.
So, by doing an impression of Bennet, Harris was doing an impression of an underling, a former colleague and a former competitor.
In any case, it’s uncomfortable.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.