Drew Barrymore tends to make audiences cringe by how close she sits next to her talk show guests. But this time — it’s because she called Vice President Kamala Harris “Momala.”
The awkward exchange has gone viral days after Harris, 59, appeared on “The Drew Barrymore Show” on Monday.
Harris discussed her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, and her family dynamic being a stepmom to his two children, Cole and Ella Emhoff, on the CBS show.
Harris explained that her loved ones call her “Momala” instead of “step.”
Barrymore, 49, then suggested that the country call Harris “Momala” in order to become more united.
“I love Disney. However, Disney kind of messed that up,” Barrymore said. “You know, for a lot of us over the years, [there was] the evil stepparent.”
“Their word for me is ‘Momala,’” Harris replied. “It’s just not fair to [children] to put them in a situation where, intentionally or not, they are being manipulated around the adults’ weird relationships with each other. You have to sort that out.”
“That’s a great segue to say that I keep thinking in my head that we all need a mom,” Barrymore interjected. “I’ve been thinking that we really all need a tremendous hug in the world right now. But in our country, we need you to be ‘Momala’ of the country.”
Harris just said “yeah” and nodded as the audience clapped, but it was social media users that had a field day over the exchange.
“Drew Barrymore participates in cringe worthy and fawning display with Kamala Harris,” author Oli London wrote.
“Do you know how insane a conversation has to be to make Kamala seem like the normal one,” a second person wrote.
A third shared the clip via X, formerly Twitter, and wrote: “I’m uncomfortable and now you must be, too.”
A fourth joked: “Kamala’s constant ‘mhm… yeah… mm… wow…’ queen of active listening.”
Others pointed out Harris’ face expression. “VP Harris’ face card to Drew Barrymore is priceless,” one laughed, sharing a photo of Harris grinning.
Elsewhere in the interview, Harris suggested that sexism is to blame for criticism of her laugh.
“Like, apparently, some people love to talk about the way I laugh,” she said on the program. “Well, let me just tell you something: I have my mother’s laugh. And I grew up around a bunch of women, in particular, who laughed from the belly.”
“I’m not that person,” she went on. “And I think it’s really important for us to remind each other and — and our younger ones: Don’t be confined to other people’s perception about what this looks like and … how you should act in order to be.”
