Vice President Kamala Harris mistakenly referred to herself as the “president” on Thursday while delivering a eulogy for the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), prompting an enthusiastic reaction from the crowd as she repeatedly corrected herself.
Harris, alongside Democratic leaders including Bill and Hillary Clinton, spoke in Houston about the congresswoman’s long career in public service, recalling how Jackson Lee had introduced legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
“Which as a US Senator, I was proud to co-sponsor and then as presi–” Harris began, before correcting herself.
“As vice president it was my honor – with the president! With the president!” she said, receiving applause and cheers from the crowd. “It was my honor – it was my honor, with our president Joe Biden to stand beside Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee as our president signed her bill into law.”
Biden has faced questions over his mental competency and whether he would step down from the remaining months of his presidency after suspending his re-election campaign and endorsing Harris on July 21 to replace him as the party nominee. The White House has insisted Biden will complete his term.
In her Houston speech, Harris reflected on her friendship with Jackson Lee and the impact she made in the House and in Texas. Jackson Lee passed away from pancreatic cancer on July 19 at the age of 74, after serving in the House for nearly 30 years, starting her first term in 1995.
“Sheila Jackson Lee was a woman of deep faith and deep compassion. She was a proud member of our beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and she was a dear, dear friend to my husband Doug and me,” the vice president said. Harris added that her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, and Jackson Lee had participated in “a number of events together” over the years, including within the Jewish community.
“You may not know but Sheila and Doug, my husband, struck up a fast friendship in recent years. And they did a number of events together, including with the Jewish community here in Houston. Because she, of course, was also a coalition builder. And she fought for everybody, knowing that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us,” Harris said.
