In the nearly two weeks since President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, at the top of the ticket, Donald Trump has increasingly turned on the race and gender of his new challenger.
Harris, whose mother is Indian and whose father is Jamaican, will make history if elected president. She will be both the first female president and the first Asian American president.
Trump doesn’t have another old white man to run against anymore. At 59, Harris is about 20 years younger than Trump and is trying to reach young voters and voters of color who are already disenchanted with Biden.
It’s a demographic that Trump is also trying to chip away at. Her response to running against Harris has included gender- and race-focused attacks — attempts to undermine her credibility with some of those groups — questioning whether she is fit to be president and galvanizing her base.
However, the strategy risks alienating voters who believe the attacks have gone too far.
The Trump and Harris campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
Here’s a look at some of Trump’s attacks on Harris since he was accepted as the Democratic presidential nominee:
Trump baselessly claims that Harris was “blacked out” for political gain
Trump questioned Harris’s racial identity during a panel discussion at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago on Wednesday.
He suggested that Harris was Indian American until he “became black” for political purposes.
Trump said he had known Harris “for a long time, indirectly” and claimed that “he only promotes Indian heritage.”
“I didn’t know he was Black until a few years ago, when he accidentally turned Black, and now he wants to be known as Black,” she said, adding, “All of a sudden, he took a turn and . . . he’s Black.”
“Is he Indian or black?” – he asked.
Harris is biracial. He is both Indian and black.
Trump after NABJ speech posted on the social network“Crazy Kamala says she’s Indian, not black. That’s a big deal. Stone cold fraud. She’s taking advantage of everyone, including their racial identity!”
On Thursday, Trump again went after Harris’ racial identity, writes on social media about his “love” for “Indian Heritage” and posting a picture of him with his mother’s side of the family.
Harris attended Howard University, a historically Black college, and she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first historically Black sorority.
‘weak’
In an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham this week, Trump said foreign leaders would treat Harris if elected.like a toy.”
Trump made it clear that his assessment was based on her appearance.
“They look at it and say we can’t believe we’re so lucky. They’re going to walk all over it,” she said.
“I don’t want to say why, but many people understand it,” he added.
Female politicians have long been questioned about their strength and whether they look like leaders. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced similar criticism when she ran against Trump in 2016.
“I think it’s my words represents strength and power. Hillary is not strong. Hillary is obviously weak. He has no stamina; he has nothing,” Trump said at the time on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Trump also said during the election cycle that he did not believe Clinton was the same.review“to be president.
‘Stupid as a Stone’
A day after Biden threw his support behind Harris, Trump called him out on social media.Stupid as a rock.”
At a bitcoin conference in Tennessee on Saturday, he later said: “I’m running against a person with a low IQ.”
Trump often hurls insults at his male or female opponents. But criticizes women and people of color often reflects the attacks that non-white men have traditionally faced in politics.
For example, Trump called one of his main opponents, the former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, “bird brain”.
Trump makes baseless birther claims
On Thursday, Trump was criticized by far-right Laura Loomer for calling Harris “It is NOT black and never has been.”
“Nowhere on his birth certificate does it say he is BLACK or AFRICAN,” Loomer said, adding that Harris is descended from slave owners, further evidence that he is not Black.
However, it is a known historical fact that slave owners sometimes gave birth to children from the women they kept as slaves.
Harris’ parents immigrated to the United States and he was born in California.
in 2020 Trump has risen A baseless birther conspiracy that claims Harris is unfit to be president.
Trump has also floated birther conspiracy theories HaleySen. Ted CruzR-Texas and former Pres Barack Obama.
Trump and other Republicans also often mispronounce Harris’ name. It should be noted that he never had difficulty pronouncing “Joe Biden”.
‘crazy’
Trump has done it many times he called Harris”crazy.”
“That’s it a radical, crazy person“, he said at a recent rally.
Women have it long term questions about their mental preparation and ability to regulate their emotions when running for office. And this was again the charge that Trump leveled against Clinton in 2016.
“Unstable Hillary Clinton He doesn’t have the judgment, the character, the moral character to lead this country — and I believe that very strongly,” Trump said. “He’s really close to unraveling, and you’ve seen it over and over again. Those behind him know it, those who know him know it, and he’s unbalanced. is like a human being.”