I'm Helen Coster, a U.S. presidential election correspondent for Reuters. This is my first time covering a campaign full-time, and I have a feeling I picked a good one.
At this stage in the race, just over two weeks from the Democratic National Convention and three months before Election Day, both sides are racing to shape public perceptions of their opponents, particularly for independent or undecided voters not yet wed to either candidate. As my colleague Alexandra Ulmer and I reported last week, Trump has has called Harris "crazy" and "nuts." He has nicknamed her "Laffin' Kamala," mocking her laugh, and "Lyin' Kamala," asserting she tried to hide the effects of President Joe Biden's aging from the public.
On Wednesday, Trump questioned Harris' racial identity. "Is she Indian or is she Black?" Trump said at the conference of Black journalists. "She was Indian all the way, and all of a sudden she made a turn and became a Black person."
Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, has long self-identified as both Black and Asian. She is the first Black person and Asian American person to serve as U.S. vice president.
Hours after Trump's comments, Harris said his remarks were "yet another reminder" of what the four years under the former president looked like. "It was the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect," Harris said. "The American people deserve better."
In the days since she garnered Democratic support to head the ticket, Harris has cast herself as the underdog in the presidential race and called Trump "just plain weird." After Biden's health became a sticking point for his candidacy, Harris' campaign called Trump "old and quite weird" following his appearance on Fox News last week.
Harris will be appearing with her vice president pick in Philadelphia on Tuesday, my colleagues Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw were first to report.
Beyond the personal attacks, the candidates are going after each other's records, with Trump assailing Harris on border security and the economy, and Harris asserting that Trump will sign a national abortion ban if reelected. Trump has not supported a national ban on abortions and has said that abortion laws should be set by individual U.S. states.
"Gobs of people on both sides are doing research to find the most vulnerable points of the candidates," Democratic political strategist Gretchen Barton told me this week, adding that the "weird" line of attack speaks to younger voters.
In the court of public opinion online, Harris is embracing the "brat" moniker assigned to her by British pop musician Charli XCX. (You're not alone if you had to Google it.) JD Vance's 2021 comments criticizing Harris and other Democrats as "a bunch of childless cat ladies" have gone viral, drawing rebukes from the likes of actor Jennifer Aniston.
For both campaigns, the claws are officially out.
Megyn Kelly -> Pete Hegseth responds to 2017 rape accusation. 🔥 vol. 3, issue 13 | December 6, 2024 Quick Hits All the news you need in...
No comments: