Tiger Woods, 48, is facing backlash for comments he did not make about presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
A viral tweet posted by an X user falsely claimed the professional golfer made negative remarks about the vice president, which has him taking unwarranted strays online.
A PGA Tour parody account on X shared a made-up quote attributed to Tiger Woods. The meme read, “Kamala’s fake Black accent is embarrassing and extremely offensive.” That tweet collected more than 6 million views on the platform.
“Sounded ridiculous,” wrote one person in disbelief that Woods would say such a thing on X.
Another disbeliever said, “Well first of all, there is no such thing as black accent. Anyone using this phrase is just racist. I’ve heard black people talking from many different places. It was never the colour of the skin. This is a maga racist propaganda.”
Do you agree with Tiger Woods? pic.twitter.com/9JyuaRtwDd
— Pro America Politics (@Pro__Trading) September 2, 2024
As the fake tweet spread online, conservatives and liberals clashed over the faux scandal. 2 Live Crew rapper Luther Campbell, known professionally as “Uncle Luke” even blasted Tiger in a video uploaded to Instagram.
“Hold the f–king phone. Tiger Woods is insulted that Kamala Harris is sounding Black. What? From you, n—a? You? Not you. Not the one who denounced his blackness and called yourself a Cablinasian,” Uncle Luke said.
The 63-year-old Miami, resident continued, “Not you, who only dates Karens. Not you, who dumped the little Black girl at Stanford. Not you, who said you were not Black. And all of a sudden, it’s insulting to who? The Cablinasian nation of your people?”
In 1997, Tiger Woods explained that, as a child, he would describe himself as Cablinasian — a combination of Caucasian, Black, Indian, and Asian — on an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
Woods also admitted he did not like to be labeled as “African-American” because he did not want to deny his mother’s Asian heritage. His mom, Kultida Woods, is of Thai, Chinese, and Dutch descent. His father, the late Earl Woods, has African, Native American, and European ancestry.
Uncle Luke’s misinformed reaction led to some of his Instagram followers also trashing Woods for the fake quote. A fan commented, “We value Tiger’s opinion like his hairline values his forehead — not at all!”
Other people attacked the “Raise the Roof” rapper for weighing in on the presidential race between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump. For example, someone demanded, “Please stop talking politics, Luke.”
Most of the Instagram comments did not mention that the Woods quote was blatant misinformation. However, one person posted, “You can delete this, you still got time.” A reply read, “Unc is on the clock.”
Over on X, Mark Batson, music producer for Alicia Keys, Eminem, and others posted, “People responding angrily to misinformation is unfortunate. Why would anyone believe that Tiger Woods is talking about Kamala Harris’ accent?”
Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California. She is the daughter of an immigrant mother from India and an immigrant father from Jamaica. The vice president’s ethnicity has become a major talking point for her political opponent.
In July, Trump ignited outrage when the MAGA leader asserted during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention that Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black” for political reasons. Those claims were in response to a question about the former president’s fellow Republicans characterizing Harris as a “DEI hire.”
Trump stated, “She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
Harris recently sat down for her first interview as the Democratic Party’s official 2024 nominee for president. CNN host Dana Bash asked the former U.S. senator from California about Trump’s racial attacks directed at her.
Dana Bash: “Trump suggested that you happened to turn Black recently for political purposes, questioning a core part of your identity.”
— Reda (@RedaMor_) August 30, 2024
Kamala Harris: “Same old tired playbook. Next question, please.”
Dana Bash: “That's it?”
Kamala Harris: “That's it.” pic.twitter.com/yBUebgVg0Z
After shaking her head, Harris simply replied, “Same old tired playbook. Next question, please.”
Kamala Harris and her vice-presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are competing against Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, in the 2024 presidential contest. Election day is Nov. 5.
