The ex-president moving to Florida and his golf course thereSource: Joe Raedle / Getty
Do you know what the core difference is between the way Kamala Harris attacks Donald Trump and the way Trump attacks Harris? Substance. Facts.
When Harris goes at Trump, she targets specific policies he either supported or signed into law as president.
Trump makes things up. He lies. And he seems to spend more time making up ridiculous, inappropriate, schoolyard bully names than ever developing a plan to help anyone except himself.
Remember Trump’s broad and factless claim that Harris and President Joe Biden are destroying America by allowing a free-for-all at the southern border (Trump stopped GOP support for the bi-partisan Biden-Harris border bill as a campaign tactic.)?
Remember all the times he took credit for the economy Obama handed to him–or took credit for the emergency financial support he opposed during the pandemic–and that Nancy Pelosi ensured?
He’s said that Harris and Biden have debilitated police officers, are responsible for “killing Black and Hispanic heritage,” sent hurricane relief funds to “illegal” immigrants, caused a rise in crime that doesn’t exist, allowed non-citizens to vote (which doesn’t happen), and, of course, rigged elections (nope).
Trump’s cowardice, childishness and racism
When Harris attacks Trump’s character, she does so based on his actual, observable characteristics. She calls him childish because he is. She calls him a coward because he spent the bulk of their time campaigning against each other ducking debates and opportunities to contrast his ideas with hers in person. She calls him racist because, bro, he is racist AF!
On the other hand, when Trump lobs personal attacks at Harris, it’s all schoolyard-style name-calling with more than a tinge of racism. He calls her “dumb.” He calls her “stupid.” He calls her “lyin’ Kamala.” He calls her “mentally impaired.” He calls her “big poopy face diaper head.” (OK, he never called her that last thing, but, admit it, that quote was less shocking to see than it should have been.)
Now, during a Tuesday event in Miami aimed at attracting Latino voters, Trump called Harris “lazy,” which many media outlets and folks on social media have characterized as a play on an anti-Black racial stereotype — because that’s exactly what it was.
From the Washington Post:
“I was going to hit her really hard on the trail today, but now I don’t have to, because she’s off,” Trump said of Harris, who is spending the day in Washington between campaign travel on the other days of the week. “You know why? She’s lazy as hell, and she’s got that reputation.”
Harris recorded multiple media interviews on Tuesday, according to her public schedule, after campaigning in three battleground states on Monday.
Trump’s coded language tries to undermine Harris’s qualifications based on her race and gender, said Rachel Noerdlinger, a Democratic communications strategist and senior adviser to Win With Black Women.
“Trump is reviving the old trope that Black women are unqualified for jobs historically held by White men,” she said. “Not having a campaign event while you’re in the middle of also governing isn’t ‘lazy’ — making almost 300 trips to the golf course as president is.”