Can you guess Kamala Harris' favorite curse word?


In just about six months on the job, California Sen. Kamala Harris (D) has made a name for herself in the upper chamber. The junior senator was formerly California's attorney general — which she is quick to point out, beginning much of her questioning in Senate hearings with the phrase, "I'm a prosecutor." Her relentless questioning has made Attorney General Jeff Sessions squirm, while earning her some reprimands from Senate colleagues for her lack of deference to witnesses.
"She speaks. She's heard," California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) told The New York Times for its profile of Harris, published Thursday. "She gets to the point," Brown continued. Not only that, but Harris also deploys "a courtroom bluntness" while speaking, the Times revealed:
In the May interview, Ms. Harris savaged the Republican health-care proposals and twice deployed profanities, rousing the home state attendees.
"I was told one should not say" — here she let fly the longest of George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" — "in these kinds of interviews," she said coyly. "So I’m not going to say it."
In private as well, this four-syllable noun is said to be a favorite. [The New York Times]
For those not wont to decipher the Times' tasteful censorship, it appears Harris' favorite curse word is the grandest of them: motherf---er.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
For more on Harris' quick rise among the national Democratic ranks — including what her fellow Californian Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), a 25-year veteran of the Senate, thinks of her rapid ascent — head to The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Sex, drugs and a royal ruckus: the US play with a future gay Prince George
Talking Point The controversial off-Broadway show is a hit with audiences in New York
-
Labour's brewing welfare rebellion
The Explainer Keir Starmer seems determined to press on with disability benefit cuts despite a "nightmare" revolt by his own MPs
-
A potentially mutating bat virus has some scientists worried about the next pandemic
Under the Radar One subgroup of bat merbecovirus has scientists concerned
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Marines, National Guard in LA can detain Americans
speed read The troops have been authorized to detain anyone who interferes with immigration raids
-
Trump vows 'very big force' against parade protesters
Speed Read The parade, which will shut down much of the capital, will celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th birthday
-
Smithsonian asserts its autonomy from Trump
speed read The DC institution defied Trump's firing of National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet
-
Trump sends Marines to LA, backs Newsom arrest
speed read California Gov. Gavin Newsom is filing lawsuits in response to Trump's escalation of the federal response to ICE protests
-
What's Kamala Harris' California future?
Today's Big Question She could run for governor. Will Democrats want her?