More than a laugh: Kamala Harris’ is a sound check for a divided country

“You’re writing a story in the Los Angeles Times about the vice president’s laugh? Newt Gingrich, the Republican former House speaker and Fox News commentator, in an interview called Harris’ laugh “distinctively jarring.” And a male host on Newsmax claimed at one point that “the queen bee — cackling Kamala — is losing her support among Democrats.” Harris’ supporters and some outside observers say the attention to her mirth is not funny. But I’m saying that’s where it comes from.” At times, like when she walks onto a stage after a lengthy introduction, Harris laughs unprompted in the way that politicians often do to try to demonstrate humility — as if to suggest that, while she may be a history-making vice president, she Or she’ll laugh amid an earnest policy discussion, seemingly trying to bring the subject down to earth. Conservative media went into overdrive over Harris’ “cackle” or “giggle,” mentioning it at least 151 times on Fox Business Network, Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network in the six weeks since the Holt interview, according to Media Matters, a left-leaning group that monitors conservative media. And it’s true that President George W. Bush got unwanted scrutiny for what even some supporters called his “smirk.” Yet the attention to Bush’s smirk wasn’t so intense, said Jennifer Palmieri, communications director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and author of the book “Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World.” Bush “had a smug smirk.