When President Joe Biden announced that he was not seeking re-election and was endorsing his running mate, Kamala Harris, the dynamics of the entire presidential race changed radically.
No longer did two white men born in the 1940s face off again over who should return to the White House. Instead, Trump, 78, is up against Harris, 59, who, if elected, would make history as the first woman of color to become president.
And within a day, Harris was already facing attacks based on her race and gender, and it was clear that even as Republicans tried to tie her to some of Biden’s policies, she would face criticism she never faced.
It’s some of the same playbook that Trump and his allies ran with the last time a woman was atop a major party ticket. In 2016, Hillary Clinton’s quality, appearance and voice were also scrutinized. But this time, the Republicans are also going after Harris, the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said Harris “DEI Vice President” in reference to workplace policies that promote diversity, equality and inclusion, which conservatives have condemned on social media.
“When you walk this way, you take the middleand that’s what they have right now,” Burchett told CNN.
Sebastian Gorka, anchor of the conservative Newsmax network who served in the Trump administration, said Harris would be the nominee.because she is a woman and his skin color is the correct DEI color.” She also “laughs like a mad woman,” he said.
Fox News anchor Jesse Watters said Harris secured Hillary Clinton’s endorsement.obviously because she is a woman.”
Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany in the Trump administration, told NBC News that Harris is “part of a revolving door of DEI appointments by a straight white male governor who gives appointments to keep various groups happy and at bay.” Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is the governor of California. “Kamala Harris is a product of this whole system. It’s far left, untested and untested.”
Before becoming vice president, Harris won two terms as a district attorney in California and was elected three times as the state’s attorney general and then as a U.S. senator. Trump, who has had a successful career in real estate and entertainment, had no government experience before becoming president.
In 2016, Trump repeatedly accused Clinton of “playing”.female card” goes after his “strength” and “persistence” to get to where he is and makes fun of his voice.
“He has nothing else to do“, he said about his opponent, who was a senator and secretary of state from New York. “And frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she would win 5% of the vote.”
“If he didn’t play the woman card, he wouldn’t have a chance, I mean zero win,” he said.
“That’s all he’s got going the fact that she is a woman“, Trump also said in an interview with NBC’s “Today” show.
Trump launched a “card” attack against Harris on Tuesday, but this time it was a “race card.”
In a call hosted by the Republican National Committee, Trump said Harris “played the race card at a level you rarely see” during the 2020 Democratic primary debate with Biden.
“It’s a well-worn playbook for her,” said Democratic strategist Karen Finney, a spokeswoman for Clinton’s 2016 campaign. “But the reality is that we also know that people wouldn’t use the playbook if it didn’t work to some extent.”
“Even in 2016, there were such excessive and disgusting cases. But I think it’s going to go up against Kamala Harris, and maybe it’s going to be both race and gender… maybe the combination of both is what’s going to stand out to people.” “And I think the country is changing and it’s going to be more obvious to people how disgusting and inappropriate this is.”
Trump campaign press secretary Caroline Leavitt said in a statement that Harris is “as weak, failed and incompetent as Joe Biden, and he’s also dangerously liberal.”
“A vote for Kamala is a vote for more crime, inflation, open borders, higher gas prices and war around the world, and our team will make sure every American knows that,” he said.
Pursuing DEI policies wasn’t fashionable in 2016, but the current criticism echoes Clinton’s attacks that she’s not competent enough. On Monday, the New York Post reported Trump as saying in an interview with Harris “bad” and “dumb”.
Trump called Harris on MondayStupid as a rock” posted on social media, and for years he has consistently mispronounced her name (as did many other speakers at the Republican National Convention last week).
In 2016, Trump also said that Clinton was not.review” to become president—but he wasn’t the only one who faced these insults. He also mocked his primary opponent, Carly Fiorina.face” voters would not want to choose.
There is Trump insulted for a long time her competitors, including men. But the insults directed at Clinton echo the attacks women in office have long faced, questioning their qualifications, power and appearance.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who defended Fiorina, whom he named as his running mate despite not winning the GOP presidential nomination, said at the time: “Donald problem with strong women. It’s not subtle; It’s not complicated.”
Cruz, another person who once had an acrimonious relationship with Trump after he opposed him in the 2016 primaries, has since put aside those differences and is backing him this time.
Harris has already faced comments about her race and gender from Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. Trump in 2020 posited an unsubstantiated “birther” conspiracy theory Born in the United States, Harris is ineligible to be president because his parents were born in other countries. Trump has also floated birther conspiracy theories Cruzformer president Barack Obama and former governor of South Carolina. Nikki Haley.
In 2021, Vance went after Democrats who don’t have biological children of their own, and them,” he said.a bunch of childless cat ladies who are unhappy with their lives and the choices they have made and therefore want to make the rest of the country unhappy too. She is the daughter of Harris – who has two stepchildren, Cole and Ella – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and New York Rep. She celebrated with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“What is the point of handing over our country to people who really have no direct stake?” he said at the time.
His spokesman, Taylor Van Kirk This was reported by the Associated Press agency“It is well known that Senator Vance has been successful in life, in large part due to the influence of strong female role models such as her grandmother.”
Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile said, “The most convenient playbook in American politics has always been race, and race will always drive the conversation.
“But now is not the time to go back using the 20th century playbook,” he added. “We’re in the 21st century… I don’t believe the American people are interested in a conversation that’s going to further divide and polarize us.”
Some Republicans were also quick to criticize the conservative attacks on Harris on Tuesday.
“I don’t agree with DEI, but he is the vice president of the United States. He is a former US Senator. These congressmen are saying that, they’re wrong on their instincts,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Tuesday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press NOW.”
The Harris campaign, which was asked for comment for this article, pointed to comments by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
“Of course it’s not appropriate, for heaven’s sake. What, they’re just going to say, ‘You’re not a white male, it’s a DEI candidate?’ he told HuffPost on Tuesday. “Sorry. No.”