Trump reverts to stereotypes as campaign fumbles to respond to Harris pick
WASHINGTON - It took President Donald Trump less than two minutes to reach for the word “nasty” as he reacted to California Sen. Kamala Harris’ historic selection as the first Black woman to join a major-party ticket.
A few minutes later, the President added “meanest” and “most horrible” to his characterization of Harris and claimed she was “disrespectful” in her attacks on Biden during the Democratic primary, when they stood on the debate stage as equals. The insults all played into racist and sexist stereotypes about Black women and made clear that Trump does not intend to throw away a playbook filled with misogynistic attacks and dog-whistle racism that have imbued his political career, even as the Biden campaign advances a barrier-breaking ticket.
Trump’s
limited
political career has brought him up against only one previous Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, whom he called a “nasty woman” during a presidential debate. And since taking office, Trump hasn’t moderated his tone, digging into a public persona that recoils from political correctness while embracing the divisiveness he believes thrills his supporters and provides them validation.
Facing his first question on Harris during a White House news conference, Trump seemed unfamiliar with the line of attack his campaign had prepared to use on her -- and that he had tweeted himself only a few minutes earlier. “You had an ad out that said she was phony and I wanted to drill down,” a reporter asked before Trump interrupted: “That she was a what?” Looking down, Trump tried to tick through a list of talking points etched before him in black Sharpie: “She’s very big into raising taxes, she wants to slash funds for our military at a level that nobody would ever believe, she’s against fracking ... “
But he quickly veered away from the staid talking points, shooting instead from the hip and calling her “extraordinarily
nasty.” While the President claimed Harris was his “No. 1 draft pick,” his attacks and the apparent deficiency of the issuefocused talking points revealed a President and his team who would have preferred Biden pick just about any other vice presidential nominee. (CNN)