Call it good-lookinggate: President Barack Obama has apologized to California Attorney General Kamala Harris for complimenting her on her looks at a Silicon Valley fundraiser on Thursday.
But it turns out the feeling is mutual: In a YouTube video Harris' official campaign posted in 2009, Harris recalls meeting Obama in Los Angeles earlier that week: "He looks and he sounds like a million bucks," a smiling Harris said, to great applause.
Still, Obama apologized after newspapers from the New York Times to the Washington Post to the Wall Street Journal wrote stories about the comments made in Atherton, and Obama took heat from conservative talk shows and bloggers. Vanity Fair headlined its Web post: "Sexual
FILE -- in this Feb. 16, 2012 file photo President Barack Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. Obama praised California's attorney general for more than her smarts and toughness at a Democratic Party event Thursday, April 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
Harris-ment?"At the Thursday afternoon outdoor fundraiser that this writer attended as the local pool reporter, about 250 Silicon Valley elite paid up to $20,000 for the chance to see Obama. The president introduced Harris, calling her dedicated, tough, and "exactly what you'd want in anybody who is administering the law, and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake."
"She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country," he said. After applause and laughter, he said: "It's true! Come on." And after some more laughs, he said: "And she is a great friend and has just been a great supporter for many, many years."
Harris was in the front of the event and her reaction wasn't visible, though
the crowd of supporters generally received the remark as a good-natured joke.On Friday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Obama called Harris after landing in Washington on Thursday night to apologize for the distraction he created.
"They are old friends, and good friends, and he did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general's professional accomplishments and her capabilities," Carney said, reiterating that Obama believes woman "should not be judged based on appearance."
Harris, 48, the former district attorney of San Francisco who began her career as an Alameda County prosecutor, was not giving interviews Friday but her office provided a statement.
"The attorney general and the president have been friends for many years," the statement said. "They had a great conversation yesterday and she strongly supports him."
Aside from the right-wing commenters who used the opportunity to pounce on Obama, there were others who saw the comments as legitimately sexist. Still, New York Magazine on Friday posted several quotes on its website in which Obama has called several men "good looking."
"Women know that this president has delivered on issues that are fundamental to them, like equal pay, like access to health (care) and the ability to have meaningful health care," Harris told an Indian television station in November while campaigning for Obama.
Obama and Harris were photographed laughing and walking together at San Francisco International Airport in February 2011, when the attorney general met the president upon his arrival for a conference with Silicon Valley tech leaders.
Harris, an Oakland native, also helped Obama with his 2008 campaign for president and spoke on his behalf at a San Jose event that year. In return, Obama attended an Atherton fundraiser in 2010 to help raise money for Harris' run for attorney general. After Harris won her June 2010 primary, Obama called to congratulate Harris, who Time magazine and others have referred to as the "female Barack Obama."
Obama last year nominated Harris' brother-in-law, Tony West, as associate attorney general.
Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at twitter.com/RosenbergMerc.
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