Donald Trump’s campaign is now in a frantic race to redefine its strategy, abandoning its previous focus on Joe Biden’s age and instead testing new attack lines against Kamala Harris, who stands two decades younger than the Republican nominee.
Republicans initially aimed to deflect from Trump’s controversies by harping on Biden’s age, but the strategy has backfired spectacularly with the nomination of a much younger candidate. Now, they face a rushed effort to undo the self-inflicted damage.
Trump, once portrayed as the “younger” candidate compared to Biden, now finds himself being labeled as the older candidate, while Harris remains untouched by the ageist rhetoric that plagued Biden.
In their attempts to undermine Harris, Trump and his allies have resorted to inflammatory language, portraying her as radical and unfit to lead. Personal attacks and baseless claims have become staples of their strategy, revealing a campaign struggling to find solid ground against a dynamic opponent.
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The return of birtherism and racially-tinged insinuations further illustrates the depths of the attacks on Harris. Conservative figures question her eligibility and attempt to diminish her accomplishments, echoing past tactics used against Barack Obama
MAGA Republicans are already scrutinizing Harris’s racial background. Erick Erickson, a prominent conservative radio host based in Atlanta, Georgia, remarked, “Kamala Harris is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants who married a Jewish man. Her experience is the American dream and melting pot, but not really the black experience, particularly that in southern swing states like Georgia and North Carolina.”
Republicans have also personalized their attacks on Harris, ranging from mocking her laughter and mispronouncing her name (“Cackling Kamala”) to leveraging diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to insinuate she would be a token “first DEI president.” At a recent campaign rally, JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, juxtaposed his military service and small business background with Harris’s decades-long government tenure, suggesting she has merely collected a paycheck.
Adding to the vitriol, Megyn Kelly, a conservative podcaster, made unsupported claims on social media: “She actually did sleep her way into and upwards in California politics, which many women (and men) may interpret as evidence of an unqualified political aspirant gaining advantage through means other than merit.”
The overt misogyny and racism inherent in these tactics could alienate pivotal swing state voters crucial for Trump’s electoral success. Despite potential advisories to temper such rhetoric, a legion of influencers and pundits stands ready to amplify these messages on his behalf.
Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman and Tea Party activist turned Trump critic, highlighted Trump’s potential challenges in facing Kamala Harris: “Trump himself is going to have a hard time running against her because he doesn’t know how to deal with someone like her. But Trump’s cheerleaders in the media know exactly what to do and they’ll go down this ugly, sexist, racist road.”
“They’ll make up stuff about how Kamala Harris rose in her career. Their key to winning – and I know this because I used to do some of this – is to get as ugly and bigoted as they can to implicitly and explicitly get people pissed off about who she is.”
David Brock, a former conservative journalist now turned Democratic operative, anticipated, “The attacks on Harris are likely to become more insidious, as they carry undertones of race. The playbook from 2016 will resurface, possibly with even greater fervor due to the heightened extremism within the right wing since Hillary Clinton’s campaign.”
As the campaign intensifies, Republicans find themselves in a predicament: Harris, far from being ensnared in their age narrative, emerges as a formidable contender. Trump’s camp, struggling to adapt, faces a stark choice between substantive debate and divisive rhetoric that may prove costly in November.
On Tuesday, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was ousted last year from his seat by the GOP’s ultra MAGA wing, called the DEI line of attack on Harris “totally stupid and dumb.”
