Donald Trump’s camp has had to rethink after incumbent President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election campaign and backed his Vice President Kamala Harris.
And now the new verbal war has begun.
Trump himself has taken to referring to his opponent as “Laffin’ Kamala” (“Laughing Kamala”) and last night went on the offensive when he baselessly accused her of being an “anti-Semite” who “wants to kill unborn children”.
Internal anxiety
Trump’s party colleagues have further called her “inquoted”.
She has also been accused of using the “race card” – something that has led to internal criticism from black Republicans who think it is the wrong way to go.
– To paint Kamala Harris as a quota case is incredibly stupid, says Whit Ayres, who worked with Republican Senator Marco Rubio’s campaigns, to Reuters.
Trump should beware of that
US expert Andreas Utterström says there is a battle going on to define Kamala Harris, who is quite unknown to the average American.
He says that Harris has already begun to describe himself as the future choice against Trump who has been painted as the candidate of the time.
– The Republicans, for their part, will try everything possible. They will say that she is radical, that she is more left-wing than she really is, and that she is more or less a stealth communist, says Andreas Utterström, who believes that Trump will have more difficulty targeting Harris than he had Biden .
– It can be dangerous for Trump to express himself in a way that is or can be perceived as sexist against Kamala Harris, and that is because the so-called soccer moms who live in the suburbs in the swing states are very important. He already has a problem with women on the abortion issue, and it won’t get any better if he speaks out against Kamala Harris in a way that these women recognize from their own lives.
There he can win points
Andreas Utterström instead believes that Trump could benefit from looking beyond the personal advances.
He points out an issue where Trump’s camp may have a lot to gain:
– There are many Americans who think that you do not have a secure border and that the migration issue has completely failed. Kamala Harris was responsible for the border with Mexico and it hasn’t gotten any better. If Trump trumpets that it’s her fault that illegal immigrants are pouring in who commit crimes, she’s in a bad place, he says, but adds:
– At the same time that it may be the case that those who already think that issue is extremely important would have voted for Trump anyway, and that there are no more votes to get there.