Veteran political strategist James CarvilleWisely said A big challenge for Kamala Harris will be to make herself known to voters before the Trump campaign can disparage her.
“We have a bucket of paint to define her at any time of our choosing,” Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita said recently.Said Barrier.
“She has Biden’s record. We’re all prepared for what she’s done,” he said. [District Attorney in San Francisco]”,Lacivita says:“And she was involved in a cover-up about Biden’s fitness to serve as president.”
“The Trump campaign is a very strong supporter of the Trump campaign,” said another aide.Several Willie Hortons“Attack Harris.
I will confess that my 2024 bingo card did not feature an image of Willie Horton, the horrific black criminal featured in this presidential campaign.
But it would be even worse if we consider former President Trump’s hostile relationship with women, especially black women.SlanderedHe called his former aide, Omarosa Manigault-Newman, a “dog.”
Trump is famous.With labelsNew York Attorney General Letitia James called him “racist” and “grossly incompetent.” Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan said:Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Trump called Vice President Harris “dirty“I’m so sorry,” the woman said after tough questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearing.
Trump’s latest foray into racist slurs against Harris begins with his frequent mispronunciation of her first name.
He pronounced it with a foreign accent and changed it to the guttural name used by hulking black male pro wrestlers of the 1980s, the archetypes of whom wrestled in loincloths and with African tribal war paint on their faces.
Trump also likes to dwell on Harris’ first name, much like he did with President Obama’s middle name, Hussein.
“Those who criticize this tacticThe Washington Post wrote last week:“It should be seen as an attempt at ‘othering,'” Harris says.
Moreover, Trump has already called Harris a bully nickname.Kamala Harris the Liar.”
At Harris’ first rally after she was named the Democratic presidential nominee, Trump called her a “crazy person” and sidelined his frequent attacks on President Biden as a liberal.He claims“He wasn’t that liberal… She’s a real liberal.”
He also repeats the falsehood that she was the Biden administration’s “border czar,” tying her to voters’ concerns about immigration.
Trump’s right-wing supporters have further exacerbated the smears against Harris.
They called her “DEI Candidate” he said, questioning her intelligence and experience and suggesting she was in political office only because she is a woman and of black and South Asian descent.
Trump’s bullies delight in disparaging Harris’s laugh, describing it as a “cackle” or a “wacky laugh,” as if she were a witch.
Trump joined the attack: “Have you ever seen her laugh?”he asked“She’s crazy. You can tell a lot by her laughter… She’s crazy.”
Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), has also offered sharp criticism.
“She speaks of the country’s history with blame rather than gratitude.”He said this at the rally.
This is consistent with conservative slanders that Harris is far from family values because she has never had children. Vance has described her as “Childless cat womanBefore becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee, he said that childfree women have no “direct stake” in America.
The personal attacks have fueled mockery of Harris by conservatives on social media.
But the most politically damaging attacks the Trump campaign is warning are aimed at undermining Harris’ case as a law-and-order prosecutor ready to take on a felon, Trump, who was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records and also faces charges of sexual assault.
As a California prosecutor, Harris drew national attention for her record of convicting criminals, but also for her aggressive pledge to send parents of children who frequently missed school to prison.
The Trump campaign has threatened to smear Harris, saying she has sent too many people, particularly young Black people, to prison.
This line of attack against Harris was foreshadowed during the 2020 Democratic primary.
“There are too many examples to list, but after sending over 1,500 people to prison for marijuana offenses, she laughed when asked if she ever smoked marijuana.”Then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said:
“She suppressed evidence, evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until a court forced her to do so…”Gabbard continued:“And she fought to preserve a bail system that has the worst effects on poor people.”
In 2018, I named Harris, then a senator, the winner of this column’s prestigious “Politician of the Year” award, writing that she was “the leading candidate to lead the party forward.”
On these issues, she remains the leading candidate.
Harris has emerged as a leader on income inequality and limiting student debt. She has proposed legislation to give a $6,000 tax cut to families making less than $100,000 a year. She is also a co-sponsor of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) “Medicare for All” health care bill.
She has also been praised by women for her strong support for abortion rights, which are left-leaning views that are also acceptable to moderates.
Trump is trying desperately to tear Harris down, but she has a strong track record.
Juan Williams is an author and political analyst for Fox News Channel.
