Kamala Harris Accepts President Obama’s Apology For ‘Best Looking’ Comment

Kamala Harris, the California Attorney General who was called the “best looking attorney general” by President Obama earlier this week, has accepted his apology.

The president uttered the compliment at a California Democratic party fundraiser in Atherton Thursday.

“You have to be careful to, first of all, say she is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough, and she is exactly what you’d want in anybody who is administering the law, and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake,” Obama said as he introduced Harris at the event. “She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country – Kamala Harris is here.”

The compliment seemed innocent enough, but the president was later criticized for focusing on Harris’ looks instead of her performance. Obama called Harris yesterday to apologize for the compliment, and a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office said the president and Harris had a nice conversation.

Gil Duran said, “They had a great conversation yesterday, and she strongly supports him.” However, it wasn’t immediately clear whether Harris had accepted his apology or not.

The matter was cleared up Saturday when Duran confirmed that Harris had in fact accepted the president’s apology.

Still, not everyone is quite so forgiving of the president’s compliment. Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers told the San Francisco Chroniclethat the comment diminished what Harris has achieved.

“It’s even more so when the person — like Kamala Harris — is holding a traditionally-male position like attorney general, the top law enforcement officer in the state,” Walsh said. “That’s just what Obama did by including a comment about her appearance,” Walsh said. “I doubt if he’d say that about a male attorney general.”

Do you think President Obama calling Kamala Harris the best-looking attorney general was a big deal? Or has it all been blown out of proportion?

[Photo courtesy of California Attorney General’s Office]