David Perdue mocks Kamala Harris’ name in Trump rally warm-up

Republican Sen. David Perdue mocked Sen. Kamala Harris on Friday, derisively mispronouncing the Democratic vice presidential candidate's name during a campaign rally in Georgia.

“Kamala? Kamala? Kamala-mala-mala? I don’t know. Whatever,” Perdue (R-Ga.) said at a rally in Macon, just before President Donald Trump was set to take the stage.

Mispronouncing Harris' first name has become a common attack within the Trump camp. The president routinely does so in a mocking way during his political rallies, even though he has correctly said it in less rowdy settings.

Perdue and Harris (D-Calif.) have served together in the Senate since 2017. Harris, who is the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, is the first woman of color nominated to a major political party ticket.

Perdue is currently facing a competitive race against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, who tweeted a video of the senator mocking Harris on Friday.

"Senator Perdue never would have done this to a male colleague. Or a white colleague," Ossoff wrote. "And everyone knows it."

Perdue spokesman John Burke tried to downplay the riff, writing in a tweet: "Senator Perdue simply mispronounced Senator Harris' name, and he didn't mean anything by it. He was making an argument against the radical socialist agenda that she and her endorsed candidate Jon Ossoff are pushing."

Andrew Bates, a spokesman with the Joe Biden campaign, shot back at Burke, tweeting in reply: "Yes, that's why he articulated all of those things by saying, "Kamala-ma-la-ma-la." How many staff refused to put this in their name before you debased yours? Christ, y'all are pathetic."

Later in the rally, Trump further derided Ossoff as "not even in the same league as David Perdue," adding "he's a radical left Schumer-Pelosi guy."