12mo ago

Kamala Harris allies deploy new Trump attack line: he is ‘just plain weird’

www.theguardian.com

US Democrats have spent recent days trying out a relatively new attack line on Donald Trump: that he is weird. The tactic is almost certainly calibrated to resonate with young and independent voters who, polls show, are moving from marked disinterest in the now-dropped matchup between Joe Biden and his presidential predecessor to engagement in the 100-day contest between Trump and Kamala Harris.

In a press release Thursday, vice-president and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris issued a list of the main takeaways of what Trump had given the American people. “Is Donald Trump OK?” the X message said. The seventh of nine entries was: “Trump is old and quite weird?”

At a fundraising event in Massachusetts on Saturday, Harris tried out the line again, describing what Trump and running mate JD Vance had been saying about her as “just plain weird”.

“I mean that’s the box you put that in,” Harris said after Trump had called her “a bum” the previous day and Vance disparaged her in 2021 as a “childless cat (lady)”.

82 comments

i really hope they move past this "we need to use gentle soft language in our criticisms of rapist convicted felon con man trump" bullshit
- Using hard language is seen by his supporters as an attack on them all and drives them into the defensive making Trump stronger. Calling him weird sidesteps that reaction and deflates Trump, especially if he launches a weird rambling speech as a response.
  
  i see the point you're trying to make.. to think, all it took to beat trump this whole time was mollycoddling him and his followers....
  like they've been doing for almost 10 years...
  
  Buddy, they think literally everything is an attack on them.
  Or have you not seen the article about Christians getting upset about the Olympics because some drag version of The Last Supper (only it was actually based on a Dutch painting portraying Bacchanalia, but that would take knowing more than 3 famous paintings, so forget it).
  It's time to stop making choices based on how this group of highly irrational people might react.
- That is language that Trump detractors like but doesn't convince anyone new. If someone was supporting Trump, they aren't going to be convinced by you re-stating that he's a felon. Everybody knows that. If they support him at this point, they don't care or they think it is an unfair attack because the arrest was political in whatever way. "Weird" strikes to his character which is at least a value judgement that you can reassess, and also relative to who he is running against.
- You went easy on the lying treasonous, traitorous coward.
  
  i genuinely shake my head sometimes at democrats' strategy. "weird" is not a bad thing to many many people. it's a term that's ridiculously easy for someone to say "yea. i'm weird. so?"
  and then what? "so, THERE!!!"?
  recall also that one of the most D cities in a deep red state, austin, celebrates their weirdness.
  ffs democrats. get your shit together
  edit: i hope I'm wrong, and "he's weird" actually does something, and I'll be more than happy to eat crow if it catches on and has a positive effect
- Agreed. But if this gets more young people or low information voters to the polls, so be it.
- I'd like to see something to address his wannabe dictator tendencies
  
  there are SO many things they could attack, and they choose "let's call him weird"
  i get more annoyed the more i think about it
- To be fair, they haven't stopped using hard language either. They released a statement after his "you won't have to vote ever again" rambling with very direct warnings about how dangerous he is and has been. "Weird" is just another line of attack, hoping to cut in a way that might resonate with some more than the (imo rightful) high stakes talk.
- Fucking seriously... "He's just plain weird"? Fucking really?
  Of all of the adjectives, "weird"??
The other direct attacks have substance. But calling Trump the weird guy and not saying why he's weird takes away all the instant counters. And when he throws a tantrum like a toddler because of this, you can damn well keep calling him weird.
- Normally I wouldn't love indulging in ad hominem attacks, but he's built an entire political strategy around them, and this I think hits that sweet spot where it's adopting the technique, including the impossibility of logically refuting it, without stooping to the same level of pure meanness and implicit sanctioning of violence.
  "If they go low, we dip down just a little bit to tell them how creepy that is."
  
  I love this
- Denormalized and demoralized is exactly how I want him
The following was initially part of a reply to another person:
Maybe the simple, gentle, "everyday" language here is truly the point? There are so many things to attack about Trump, so many legitimate concerns for his fascist, racist, sexist, ad nauseum behaviors. We've heard it all before. But simply calling him weird could spark a little reflection in his supporters and would-be voters while obviously delivering a shock to Trump's vanity.
It's not something you can easily deny as a conspiracy theory or fake news or any other excuse about his words and behavior. The man is weird. And psychologically, I think it's harder to defend a person described that way, or at least makes a defender get a little self-conscious. Trump being deemed weird is really indefensible, and I think it could work in deflating the cult of personality around him.
Not everyone can identify maniacal dictator rhetoric for what it is, and the power dynamic is clearly alluring to Trump supporters. However, knowing a weird person or even being called weird at some point is something almost everyone has experience with.
It's uncomfortable. It makes you ask yourself what it is about a person that makes them weird and how you should deal with it. It prickles something very basic in the human psyche. So I think they're on to something here. It might give supporters pause and will most definitely give Trump a complex.
- Moreover, it makes them do the same thing (unless you're a god-tier narcissist, like trump) and consider it you are, in fact, weird.
  Since he's an insecure narcissist, it's gonna drive him nuts, and make him want to spend energy to show how he's not weird
  
  And screeching about how normal you are never works. You have to put in time and effort. It requires humility and honesty, and often therapy.
  I wish him good luck.
- You reflect my thoughts from the other day well and explain thoroughly the reasons why I think this is an excellent angle of attack for reaching new corners of the electorate.
  The Democratic party should keep this line, use it tastefully but consistently all the way up to November. It's going to drive Trump nuts, if nothing else.
You know the more I think on this, the other comments are right. The "small hands" thing caused him to flip out.
He is weird. He doesn't make sense half the time, and seems out of touch with reality - even his supporters. He's all the other things we have pointed out, but to sum it all together, hes strange. He wants to be the in-group, but his in-group consists of only him. What kind of dude wants to lead a country where he thinks the rest of the country is wrong about everything?
I think this is to try to achieve two things.
First, criticizing / annoying Trump.
Second, to try to recast Harris as the more mainstream American. Your typical mayo-American suburban mom type's immediate reaction to Harris is going to revolve around a comparison of skin tones and evaluation of just how other Harris is. Pointing out that Trump is weird implicitly implies that Harris is normal by contrast.
Same reason she's going to pick some completely uninteresting Generic White Guy as her running mate.
- Yes. This is a careful, calculated, psychological move, just like you said.
  It's very clever. By asking if Trump is weird, the natural response of a human is to check Trump's actions and traits against your natural biases and expectations based on your 'in group', either to evaluate if he's weird or to try to defend him by building a rebuttal. Unless you hang out with racist billionaire authoritarian narcissists often, he's going to be very weird to nearly everyone.
  And again like you said, it takes the wind out of the most obvious counter to Kamala, her 'otherness'.
  It's brilliant.
  
  I agree with you. I read an article (can’t remember where it was from) that basically said right wingers have become detached from reality and normal America because they are insulated in their little online world and social media safe spaces. The general public has already heard that Trump and his ilk are a threat to democracy, this point has already been made. Highlighting the fact they are weird, gross and lack basic human decency is a brilliant move, like you said.
While this can't be the only line of attack, it is a good one. Already, Trump seems to be having difficulty attacking Harris, as he has to work to continually suppress saying the most racist and sexist things he can think of. Imagine if he has to react to the 'weird' criticism by continually, on the fly, suppress some of his stranger speaking topics too. I'm guessing the mental load of doing that might put an amusing amount of strain on the old man. Imagine Trump, if the rallies weren't fun for him anymore. How's he going to recharge that narcissistic brain of his?
I really don't get this tactic. I mean even ignoring the obvious that we shouldn't downplay his literal dangers to our entire society which this kind of language seems to do, I don't like it cuz weird isn't even bad to me. I like weird. I'm weird. That's not going to have the effect they think it is. They don't need to say he's weird. They need to say he's a deranged lunatic who wants to destroy your country and put the lives of the people you love in danger. Cuz that's the reality.
- It’s more effective because it’s lower stakes. Voters are sick of hearing about the end of democracy and most just treat it like hyperbole one side is throwing at the other. Meanwhile, othering is a time-tested and results-proven tactic. It’s more relatable and it makes voting for the ticket provoke a common, undesirable, visceral feel.
- Calling Trump weird is a bit like belittling him. Maga shitheads like to see him as this untouchable guy, who says what's on his mind. Harris calling him weird kind of makes him seem small.
  It's kind like calling Putin a raging homosexual. I have nothing against homosexual people, but Putin and his bootlickers do. If that's a problem for them, all the better.
- It reminds me of Clinton's "deplorables" comment in that it just came off as cringy and didn't really gain any traction. Trump is an expert level shit talker so you gotta bring your A game. I think they should take from his own playbook and keep harping on about how old he is and how nonsensical his statements are.
  
  expert level
  His insults are on par with my kid's playground
Fuck me. If he was only "weird" 80% of the world wouldn't be scared shitless that he'll get in power again.
- Yes, but proven to be bought by the Saudis and alleged to be blackmailed by Russia just does not seem to be the topic voters care about
  
  I hate this country
Just spitballing here: He doesn’t pass the vibe check? He gives us the ick? He’s giving Ohio?
- He's very Ohio. ( That insult makes me happy as I HATE that shit hole)
- he is very easily rizzed
  
  He's got brainrot for fascism. Weird guy.
Yes... If weird equals racist, loser, pedophile, soulless, senile, moron.
I am in full support of Harris, but I hate this attack. Am I understanding this correctly?Describing that asshole as weird is an insult to weird. Weird is what most of us are. I very much hope it is not something I have in common with that orange shit stain
- for some reason, out of all of the adjectives you listed, weird is the only one that seems to have an effect on boomers. If it works, it works
- I like the weird attack - it's quite dismissive and robs him of power. I absolutely agree he's a threat to democracy but he loves that attack because his narcissistic ass is empowered by it... Weird fits well enough but it also leans towards dismissing him from being a mainstream figure.
  
  I'm amazed how his taste for well-done steaks slathered in ketchup hasn't alienated all the proud carnivores. Because that shit is fuckin weird, man.
- how about Slimy?
  
  What's that dwarf got to do with it?
- calling trump "weird" is the textbook definition of "going soft on crime"
Tired trump would work better. But him saying "I'm so normal, the normalest" would be funny
- Bigly normal
I know they don't want to use words like 'senility' and 'dementia' because of Biden, but come on. He's not running now and he'll only be president for a few more months.
- I'm on the fence for using dementia or senility. In fact I think I prefer the 'weird' reference more than the other two, if for no other reason than there is no proof he is ... but 'weird' covers a fair portion of what he is/does.
  Bonus points if they start incorporating 'convicted felon' as the campaign progresses.
  
  This is politics. It doesn't really matter if he's got dementia, it just matters if he's perceived as having dementia.
- That language could backfire a little right now, but hopefully they do pull this out closer to election.
I'm NOT Weird! YOUR WEIRD!
-Stable Geniuses!
Seriously I can't understand how anyone who has listened to him talk can vote for him and there is no way folks did not hear him at some point during his first tenure. The randomness of it all is so crazy.
Spot on, dude is weird as fuck. I wouldn't leave him alone with a woman who wasn't absolutely gushing with consent
I like how the MSM aren't at all overhyping this by publishing articles about how brand new and brilliant it is several times a day for about a week.
I mean yes, it IS true that the American Fascist Party are a bunch profoundly weird creeps and squares and it's probably ALSO true that that insult hits them harder than the more serious ones, but that's not gonna keep being the case if the media makes everyone sick of hearing about it..
Yikes… let’s try harder with the next one.
Yes, because this tactic worked so well against Boris Johnson.
- The contexts are really different. Boris played up his "harmless eccentric" facade, but Trump isn't going to benefit from looking whimsical or whatever, no one would buy that from him. No one sees him as some mad genius.
  Reality is people are pretty tired of weird in their politics, which is why in this context I think it's potentially a good approach.
  My sense of the general sentiment is that people don't have time for weirdos at this point, we've had 8 years of weird and now we've got real problems facing the nation and the world and can't be mucking around with a bunch of troglodytes like Vance who think only married people who own property should be citizens or whatever bizzarre Gilead type ideas conservatives have for the country.
- I agree, there are soo many avenues for this to backfire on Kamala.
Oops
And they’ll repeat it like a two year old that accidentally said something funny.
*downvote all you want but the word weird is going to be on every email from here on out. Multiple times probably. They hopefully branch out into other insults before it’s way worn out.
Just attack his record. It would be more effective.
The "no u" line doesn't really work coming from Harris, as anyone who has watched more than 30 seconds of her speaking can see she is objectively cringeworthy as she speaks.

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