Vice President Kamala Harris sparked a conversation on Twitter after giving a speech to college basketball players following a loss.
Harris watched the game between her alma mater, Howard University, and the University of Kansas on Thursday.
Howard University lost the game.
She visited the players in the locker room after the game, telling them, “You played hard. You played to the very last second. You made all us Bison so so proud.”
Harris added, “You showed the world who Bison are. You know, I was at Howard back in the day where we were just happy there was a game, much less getting to this place. Right?”
She continued, “I see Bison literally all over the world. And we’ve been talking about you. This team. You make us so proud. So I know you may not be feeling great right now. Okay? But know who you are.”
Harris then called the team “excellence.”
Watch the video below:
Congratulations to my @HowardU Bison on a tremendous season. You make us so proud. pic.twitter.com/twSLZgI9Af
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) March 17, 2023
The speech received several negative reactions.
Radio host Bruce Hooley tweeted, “Imagine the hubris and detachment from reality this requires. No athlete wants to hear the ‘you played hard’ speech after getting their asses kicked by 30. To inject yourself into that locker room, then to post it on your own social media, expecting to take a victory lap…stupid.”
Imagine the hubris and detachment from reality this requires. No athlete wants to hear the "you played hard" speech after getting their asses kicked by 30. To inject yourself into that locker room, then to post it on your own social media, expecting to take a victory lap…stupid https://t.co/Z9asqrh63a
— Bruce Hooley (@BHOOLZ) March 17, 2023
One user replied, “Lose by nearly 30 then have to sit thru this.”
Lose by nearly 30 then have to sit thru this https://t.co/Kilimx1n6X
— Nick Trainer (@NicholasTrainer) March 17, 2023
Another tweet asked, “Haven’t they suffered enough?”
Haven’t they suffered enough? https://t.co/dk7tXHhDoN
— Gerry Callahan (@GerryCallahan) March 17, 2023
One user added, “After losing in the NCAA tournament, the team had to get a locker room speech from……Kamala Harris You can literally feel the cringe in the room. I’m speechless.”
After losing in the NCAA tournament, the team had to get a locker room speech from……Kamala Harris
— Clayton Keirns (@CKeirns) March 17, 2023
You can literally feel the cringe in the room. I’m speechless https://t.co/XiuAHIYQ9H
Check out more reactions below:
https://twitter.com/MARYWICKER20/status/1636692455335526401
Truly feel bad for these guys. They lost the game and then had to be subjected to this speech. https://t.co/bqcRecC7aN
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 17, 2023
https://twitter.com/scottinnj/status/1636563367228743681
https://twitter.com/mattsgorman/status/1636560666625470464
How soul-crushing this all must be for this team. And then there’s the 28-point loss! https://t.co/14ImHYDTjn
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) March 17, 2023
Which is worse: losing a game or losing and then hearing this speech in the locker room 😬 https://t.co/7c9lnfwMTn
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) March 17, 2023
The vice president graduated from Howard University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
“The thing that Howard taught me is that you can do any collection of things, and not one thing to the exclusion of the other. You could be homecoming queen and valedictorian. There are no false choices at Howard,” Harris said of the school.
She went on to receive a law degree from the University of California, Hastings.