Trump steps up attacks on Kamala Harris

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Donald Trump once again attacked Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Tuesday night at a campaign rally in North Carolina.
• The president said earlier this week that “nobody likes” Harris and told voters it would be “an insult to our country” if Harris became the first female president.
• Trump has also called Harris “nasty” for her questioning of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings.

President Donald Trump has plenty to say about Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

This week, the president said that “nobody likes” the senator, feeding into a standard of likability that is applied to women in leadership far more often than men. He told voters in North Carolina it would be “an insult to our country” if Harris became the first female president.

The president and his supporters also repeatedly mispronounce Harris’ first name, including Fos News’ Tucker Carlson. According to her supporters, this pattern amounts to a deliberate effort to portray Harris, the daughter of immigrants, as someone who does not belong at the top ranks of politics.

“It’s hard to see that as not somehow tied to what you view as ‘our country,’” said Kelly Dittmar, director of research and scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics.

Kamala Harris, on the other hand, has been sharp in her criticism of the president, but has mainly focused her comments on the Trump’s job performance. Campaigning in Miami on Thursday, she called Trump “reckless” for downplaying the potential toll of the coronavirus while privately describing it as “deadly stuff.”

The strategy Trump os doing could be risky as more Black voters already support Biden. Sustained criticism of Harris could fuel their enthusiasm to vote in November, potentially swaying the election in states such as North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

It’s not common for an incumbent president to attack their rival’s running mate because it could be seen as punching down.

Harris has staked out relatively moderate stances over the course of her career on issues such as health care and law enforcement. She co-sponsored Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All proposal in the Senate, which the Trump campaign points to as evidence of her liberal voting record, but moderated her stance during her own presidential bid.

“You know who’s further left than Crazy Bernie? Kamala. Kamala. Kamala,” Trump said, mispronouncing and stretching out each syllable of her name each time he said it in North Carolina.

The repeated mispronunciation of Harris’ first name is similar to the president’s former habit of referring to his predecessor as “Barack Hussein Obama” and recalling Trump’s false claim that Obama was ineligible to serve office.

Trump has called his female foes “nasty” or “angry.”

In an excerpt released Wednesday from Bob Woodward’s new book, Trump, while reviewing coverage of his State of the Union address, pointed to calm or otherwise expressionless shots of Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during his speech, reportedly exclaiming: “Hate! See the hate! See the hate!”

He’s also called Harris “nasty” for her questioning of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings.

Source: AOL