This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Did you catch Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez hitting the dab during the senate debate last week?
Oh god it was awkward; her opponent, state Attorney General Kamala Harris' facial expression pretty much sums up how we felt about it:
The incident begged the question: why, tho?? At the time, Sanchez spokesperson Luis Vizcaino said on Twitter to say that the candidate's dab was meant to indicate that she's down with millennials (as a high school teacher, I can affirm that #teens will dab at any opportunity they can). But the L.A. Times is now reporting that Sanchez hit the dab because her makeup artist's 9-year-old daughter Jamieson Deacy told her to. Per the Times:
Jamieson and Sanchez struck up a conversation about the girl’s math homework and, when the congresswoman mentioned the debate, Jamieson suggested using the “dab” to end it with a flourish, her mother said. Jamieson told her that “all the girls were doing it in dance,” her mother said. Jamiseon said, 'You’re so nice, you really need to have the dab at the end of your debate,' ” said Deacy, an independent who plans to vote for Sanchez in November. “She said it’s like the finishing touch. A victory, like if you score a touchdown.”
And this isn't the first time Sanchez has been caught on camera doing something...um, problematic, let's say. Last year while speaking with the Indian-American caucus, she made a "war chant" whooping sound with her hand over her mouth, thought of as an offensive stereotype of Native Americans.
This week, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (whose seat Harris and Sanchez are vying for) both endorsed Harris, who's leading in the polls.
