Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, speaking at a rally in Georgia on Saturday, echoed former President Trump’s recent attacks on Harris’ record, calling her campaign tactics “pretty bizarre.”
He used the “bizarre” rhetoric the Harris campaign has used against Trump-Vance to attack the campaign’s recent rally, which was held at the same venue in Atlanta.
“I think it’s especially strange that Kamala Harris is coming to Atlanta, here at the … arena,” Vance said. told the crowd “For her to grow up in Canada and then come to Atlanta and speak with a fake Southern accent is not just fabricated, it’s pretty weird,” Georgia State University’s Kamala Harris said.
“Watch the video. She sounds like a Southern belle,” he continued. “She grew up in Vancouver, which doesn’t make sense.”
Harris spent his early years in Montreal, but also spent time growing up in Wisconsin.
“Let’s talk about weird things,” Vance continued. “I think it’s weird that Democrats want sexually explicit books in young children’s libraries. I think it’s weird that the far-left approves of biological males beating up women in boxing.”
“It seems odd for a presidential candidate to release a convicted rapist and murderer on bail, but that’s exactly what Kamala Harris did,” he argued, referring to the vice president’s time as U.S. attorney in California.
Harris, who was officially nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee on Friday, has faced a barrage of criticism in recent days over her record. She was catapulted to the top of the list of candidates after President Biden stepped aside from the race and endorsed her as his candidate to face Trump in the fall.
Earlier this week, Trump questioned her place of origin and racial identity during an interview with a black journalist.
“She’s always been Indian. And she’s just been advertising her Indian ancestry,” Trump said in an offensive interview at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago on Wednesday. “I didn’t know she was black until a few years ago when she happened to be black. And now she wants to be known as black.”
His comments came in response to a question from ABC News political reporter Rachel Scott, who asked about Republican claims that Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman elected vice president, was merely a “DEI” hire, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Trump’s comments drew strong backlash from the government, including the White House.
“As a person of color, as a Black woman, I find Ms. Harris’ comments, what you all read to me, offensive and offensive, and no one has the right to tell me who they are or how they identify,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the first White House press secretary in the role, said of Harris’ comments about race and ethnicity.
During a campaign event in Arizona earlier this week, Vance defended Harris’ comments, calling her response “hysterical” and likening her to a “chameleon.”
The Hill has reached out to Harris’ campaign for comment.
