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Kamala Harris reminding Mike Pence 'I'm speaking' is every woman in a meeting

Reclaiming her time.

Caitlin Welsh

on October 7, 2020

Kamala Harris reminding Mike Pence 'I'm speaking' is every woman in a meeting

"DUDE CAN U NOT" Credit: AFP via Getty Images

You know you're living in a deeply stupid era when every time a woman in power has to firmly ask a man to stop talking over her, it becomes a meme.

Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris had her own "reclaiming my time" moment during the vice presidential candidates' debate. While Mike Pence didn't quite reach Trump levels of shouting over his opponent and moderator, the VP refused during almost every single one of his answers to acknowledge moderator Susan Page's polite requests that he stop talking when his time was up, and interrupted Harris when her time was not.

Her firm response, repeated at least four times over the course of the 90-minute debate: "I'm speaking. Mr Vice President, I'm speaking."

By the end of the debate, "I'M SPEAKING" was trending on Twitter with over 44,000 tweets quoting Senator Harris' words.

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Surprising no person who has been spoken over in a meeting or life in general, women were especially heartened by the sight of a female candidate refusing to let an older white dude steamroll her time.

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People also questioned Pence's cunning strategy of... talking over two women for an entire debate.

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For the record: Numerous studies have shown that men interrupt women in mixed-gender settings much more often and more consistently than they do other men, and much more often than women interrupt anyone.

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Is it any wonder that when a woman calmly pushes back, it hits a nerve?

UPDATE: Oct. 8, 2020, 2:21 p.m. AEDT Incredibly, during post-debate analysis on CNN, former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum literally interrupted the one woman on the panel with him while she was discussing the "I'm speaking" moments. You won't believe what happened next.

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