Jenna Ellis Responds After Kamala Harris-Marge Simpson Controversy: 'Nobody Actually Denied It'
An influx of social media slings and arrows in recent days did not deter Trump campaign senior legal adviser and presidential lawyer Jenna Ellis from maintaining a sense of humor.
Met Friday with an indignant official response from Fox Broadcasting Company’s “The Simpsons” over comments comparing the voice of 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s newly named running mate Kamala Harris with that of the long-running adult cartoon’s leading lady Marge Simpson, Ellis told The Western Journal she could not help but laugh.
“I thought it was hilarious,” Ellis said in a Monday interview. “And the funny thing is that nobody actually denied it.
“When I just made an observation that Kamala sounds like Marge Simpson, everybody thought it was so offensive, but nobody actually said, ‘I don’t really think she does.’ And that was what was really funny to me,” she added.
Ellis prompted left-wing backlash Aug. 12 with a seemingly innocuous tweet comparing the two voices as Biden and Harris took the stage in Wilmington, Delaware, to speak for their first time as a ticket.
Kamala sounds like Marge Simpson.
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) August 12, 2020
“Kamala sounds like Marge Simpson,” the Trump campaign adviser said.
The five words led to a massive outpouring of defense for Harris and Simpson courtesy of prominent progressive figures like sports media personality Dave Zirin, podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen and even Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California.
Within 48 hours, the cartoonists behind “The Simpsons” had responded as well, releasing a 27-second animated short in which Simpson herself stepped out on stage to address the controversy.
“I usually don’t get into politics, but the president’s senior adviser, Jenna Ellis, just said Kamala Harris sounds like me,” Simpson said, adding that her daughter, the character Lisa, had told her the comparison was not meant “as a compliment” but as an insult.
“I teach my children not to name-call, Jenna,” the cartoon mother scolded.
“I was gonna say I’m p—-d off, but I’m afraid they’d bleep it.”
The brief cartoon would also see Simpson suggest that “as an ordinary suburban housewife,” she was “starting to feel a little disrespected.”
Marge Simpson has something to say. pic.twitter.com/viux96bAPf
— TheSimpsons (@TheSimpsons) August 14, 2020
Seeking re-election in just 76 days, President Donald Trump has sought to lock down the support of suburban housewives and families in recent weeks — an electoral demographic battled over in 2016 and widely believed to be must-win for both parties this November.
According to NPR, Trump campaign efforts to rally the suburbs with law-and-order messaging in the face of violent nationwide civil unrest may not be having the desired effect, with recent polling averages indicating Biden leads Trump among that demographic by roughly 15 percentage points.
Ellis, for her part, seems less than convinced the political opinion of fictional suburban housewives like Marge Simpson will hold much sway over the opinions of the real deal when it comes to the casting of their presidential ballots.
Within hours of Fox Broadcasting Company’s animated response, Ellis returned the volley, joking on Twitter that Democratic candidates would likely be receiving mail-in votes from the cartoon character.
Marge is probably going to vote Democrat… by mail. https://t.co/UMcpXPuvFm
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) August 14, 2020
Um… None of them are actual people or eligible to vote, but in the Dems’ vote-by-mail scheme, could receive ballots anyway, like the dogs and cat!
Apparently my joke was too sophisticated for you. Unless you’re actually advocating for cartoons to stuff ballot boxes? ? https://t.co/bM7bckxggE
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) August 14, 2020
Ellis later told The Western Journal that the controversy was something of a career highlight, allowing her to play a small role in the now decades-old tradition of adult cartoon satirization of American politics.
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“It was great to be part of pop culture history,” the Trump lawyer said.
“I went through a government class in college, actually — my freshman year. And one of the clips that my professor loved to use was from ‘The Simpsons,’ all over just various cultural and pop culture things.
“And so to be part of that, I hope that, if he’s still teaching, he’s going to use that to teach his future classes for political science,” she said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
