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Kamala Harris slammed for wiping hand on trousers immediately after handshake with South Korean President Moon Jae-in
KAMALA Harris wiped her hand on her trousers immediately after shaking hands with the South Korean president - sparking huge backlash.
Footage of the "faux pas" went viral on Twitter, with thousands slamming the Vice President for her "insulting" action.
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Many have argued the reaction would have been significantly worse had she been a Republican leader.
And one said it would have been "the end of the world" had it been Donald Trump.
In the clip, Harris appears to wipe her hand on her pants after a handshake with Moon Jae-in.
The pair were speaking at a press conference following a chat about North Korea, global health and the "root causes" of migration to the US from Central America, Harris later wrote on Twitter.
One social media user accused Harris of being "disrespectful" to the South Korean leader.
They said on Twitter: "This is the USA VP? Not only disrespectful, but it would be "racist" if this was a Republican, all over the news for sure…
"Double standards on full display."
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Another wrote: "Wow! That’s so embarrassing!"
And one person commented: "Kamala Harris insults the South Korean President Moon Jae-in by wiping her hand off after shaking his hand."
The footage, which has racked up hundreds of thousands of views, was even discussed on Sky News Australia.
Host Rowan Dean said: "Had it been Donald Trump can you imagine the outrage that would have occurred?
"It would have been the end of the world."
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But some were quick to defend Harris as she met the leader unmasked in the middle of the pandemic.
"We are living in Covid. I immediately wash my hands after touching someone else's," one person said on Twitter.
Another wrote: "The criticism of the VP is ridiculous... it probably was just a natural reaction that all of us have been doing for over a year now... not a personal affront to the South Korean President."
And one user said: "I’ve always done the same thing, years before the pandemic!
"People blow their nose in their hand, sneeze, some people have sweating hands, never like hand shaking."
Harris met with Jae-in at the White House as part of Joe Biden's second in-person session with a foreign leader since coming to office.
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Following the meeting, Harris tweeted: "Today, I met with Republic of Korea President Moon.
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"We discussed North Korea, global health, and how we can address the root causes of migration from the Northern Triangle.
"We look forward to working with President Moon to address the challenges we face."
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