Explaining Trump’s ‘Kamabla’ name for Harris (2024)

Donald Trump has tried out a number of nicknames as he tries to define Kamala Harris in the presidential race. There was “Laffin’ Kamala,” and there was “Lyin’ Kamala” but there has been none so confusing as simply “Kamabla.”

Because nobody knows what it means.

During the 2016 campaign, as he took on the Republican establishment in the GOP primary, he called former Florida Governor Jeb Bush “Low-energy Jeb,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz was also “Lyin’” and then there was Florida Senator Marco Rubio who was targeted as “Liddle Marco.”

More recently, in the 2020 election cycle, it was “Sleepy Joe” Biden. He has also gone after the New York attorney general as Letitia “Peekaboo” James.

On Monday night, Trump took to Truth Social, writing, “People vote with their STOMACH, and food is now at an all time high because of Kamabla/Biden INCOMPETENCE. With them in charge, IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE!”

Ten minutes later, he added: “Kamabla has stated, over and over again, that she wants to DEFUND THE POLICE AND, WITHOUT QUESTION, BAN FRACKING. ‘NO MORE FOSSIL FUEL.’ This quadruple the cost of energy in America! DEPRESSION ANYONE!

Trump has kept using “Kamabla” and “crazy Kamabla” in his Truth Social posts, without expanding on what he means by it.

North Dakota governor and former Trump VP contender Doug Burgum deflected when asked about the nickname on CNN.

“I can’t comment on that but I do know when voters are making a decision, they’re going to vote in many ways their pocketbook,” he said.

The man Trump eventually picked to be his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, laughed when asked if he knew what the nickname meant and said he’s not planning on using it, adding that he hasn’t spoken to Trump about it.

“I think the president, obviously, he loves to give people nicknames and I think that he’s going to keep on doing that,” he said, according to Semafor. “I would be shocked if it’s the last nickname he gives her before the end of the election.”

“Kamabla represents all the hurt and misery the Biden-Harris administration has brought to every single American,” the Trump campaign told the Intelligencer.

Trump hasn’t yet used the name during a rally or other public appearance leaving it unclear how he would pronounce it. But one guess is trying to add the word “blah” to Kamala’s name, possibly in an attempt to brand her as dull or incoherent.

Trump could also be trying to combine the names Kamala and Obama. Earlier in the campaign, he claimed the former president was in charge of the Biden administration, and he has said Obama when he intended to say Biden on a number of occasions.

On Tuesday, Trump made clear in a post on Truth Social that Obama continues to be on his mind.

“What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin' Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE,” he wrote.

“He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!” he added.

It could simply be a misspelling that Trump is using to show dominance. For instance, he called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “Rob” for some time during the primary campaign.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has used a similar tactic against the former president, saying “Now mind you, just to remind, when what’s-his-name was president and the Republicans were in power...” during a 2021 CNN appearance.

Trump has also called Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” after she noted her Native American heritage and he has called Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s wife Elaine Chao, his former Labor Secretary, “Coco Chow.”

Both nicknames have been widely panned as racist. Similarly, Trump attacked former UN Ambassador and primary rival Nikki Haley by noting that her birth name was Nimarata Nikki Randhawa in an attempt to claim that she was hiding her true identity. Trump frequently misspelled her name as “Nimrada” or “Nimbra.”

Some have suggested that Trump is trying to target Harris’s Indian heritage or that he’s trying to shoehorn the word “Black” into her name.

The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.