Obama sorry for Kamala Harris 'good looking' comment - Los Angeles Times

Kamala Harris and President Obama in 2012. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

From a Times staff writer

April 5, 2013, 5:50 p.m.

President Obama in no way mean to "diminish" California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris' credentials when he described her as "by far the best-looking attorney general in the country" during a talk, his spokesman said Friday.

The White House was responding to criticism over the remark, which some found to be sexist.

On Friday, the president apologized for the remark. "He called her to apologize for the distraction created by his comments," spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

The president “did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general’s professional accomplishments and her capabilities. He fully recognizes the challenges women continue to face in the workplace and that they should not be judged based on appearance,” Carney added.

Harris has not commented. But according to PolitiCal, her communications director, Gil Duran, issued a statement saying "the attorney general and the president have been friends for many years. They had a great conversation yesterday and she strongly supports him."

Harris, it turns out, once commented on Obama's appearance. The San Jose Mercury News found a 2009 YouTube video in which she says:  "He looks and he sounds like a million bucks."

The controversy began Thursday when Obama was at a California fundraiser. Here are the remarks:

"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.

“She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country -- Kamala Harris is here.  (Applause.)  It's true.  Come on.  (Laughter.)  And she is a great friend and has just been a great supporter for many, many years.”

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President Obama chided after calling California's Kamala Harris 'best looking ... - New York Daily News

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

California Attorney General Kamala Harris (left) and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom share laughs on Thursday with Obama, whose admiration for her came on same day Michelle Obama called herself a 'single mother.'

President Obama felt the heat Thursday after calling a powerful female official smoking hot.

And as luck would have it, he made the unfortunate comment on the same day his wife — remember her, tall lady with the midlife bangs? — mistakenly referred to herself as a single mother.

Critics are steamed after President called Kamala Harris the 'best looking attorney general in the country.'

But back to the Prez and his very male salivary glands:

“She also happens to be by far the best looking attorney general in the country,” Obama said of California’s Kamala Harris during a fund-raiser. The unexpected comment ruffled the feathers of some observers and caused a commotion on social media such as Twitter.

Eric Risberg/AP

President Barack Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco.

“It’s true, come on,” the President added as fund-raiser attendees in Atherton, Calif., guffawed.

Obama set up the remark with a heap of more conventional praise for Harris, 48, who campaigned for him last year.

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

First Lady Michelle Obama mistakenly referred to herself as a single mother on the same day President Barack Obama called California's Kamala Harris 'the best looking attorney general in the country.'

“She is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough,” Obama said.

What came next was a compliment heard round the world — an uncharacteristic slip by the smooth-talking Obama. Some Twitter users blasted the quip as “awkward” and even “sexist.”

BENJAMIN MYERS/REUTERS

President Barack Obama (from left), First Lady Michelle Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) clap during the Inaugural Luncheon in Statuary Hall after his ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

“Obama’s comment about Kamala Harris is disgraceful and really terrible for workplace equality,” tweeted New York magazine writer Jonathan Chait.

Not surprisingly, the Republican National Committee quickly pounced on Obama, posting a snarky Twitter message.

“Not awkward and perfectly fine for him to say, right?” it said.

While the remark left plenty of observers hot and bothered, it didn’t offend everyone: “How did it become so difficult to call a woman good looking in public,” tweeted Politico media reporter Dylan Byers.

But Thursday turned out to be double trouble for the First Family, with Michelle Obama calling herself a “busy single mother” in an interview. The top mom immediately caught herself, saying, “You know, when you’ve got the husband who’s president, it can feel a little single, but he’s there,” she said, CBS reported.

With News Wire Services

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