Trump and Vance Fear Harris

And I’m not the only one who says so

Who’s afraid of Vice President Kamala Harris? Answer: Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.

As President Biden steps down as the Democrats’ nominee, Harris is emerging as the one who will replace him. Trumpists agree. We know this because they have been attacking her for weeks.  

Before the recent GOP convention in Milwaukee, far-right Trumpers were going at Harris with false and execrable attacks – she slept her way to the top,  was elevated solely on the basis of race, may not be American-born – and Trump himself called  her “nuts” and “crazy.” In another sign that the party fears Harris, the GOP began airing “Stop Harris” TV ads before the four-day Trump coronation was gaveled to order.

At the convention, one of Trump’s top aides attacked Harris as the beneficiary of a “coup” staged against Democrats who had voted for Biden in the primaries.  Of course, nothing says that Biden couldn’t step down. Hench the word “coup” doesn’t apply. But this is a way to shift attention from the real coup attempted by Trump and the pro-Trump mob that occupied the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

More recently, at a rally in the swing state of Michigan, the GOP’s Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance went after Harris hard, asking “What the hell have you done other than collect a check?” (In fact, Harris has served as San Francisco’s district attorney, California attorney general, as U.S. Senator and now vice president. Compared with Vance’s one-and-a-half years in the Senate, she has done a hell-of-a-lot.

Meanwhile, a Trump spokesperson told The New York Times, “Kamala Harris is incompetent…She’s proven to be the weakest, worst vice president in history.” Others attacked her for defending Biden from his critics. The pro-Trump New York Post published an article that said she is “maybe the most irrepressibly fatuous politician in America…”

More serious Republicans believe they can confront Harris with the same issues they hoped to pin on Biden – border problems and inflation – but they will have a much harder time pinning these on Harris, who was not actually in charge at the Biden White House. And though Trumpers may prefer the word fatuous, they wouldn’t be so aggressive if she weren’t actually formidable. Sure, she must stop meandering in her stump speeches and become a bit more “presidential” in her style. But Harris is a quick study and will refine her approach. Also, she is a good debater, does well with the media, and can raise funds like an investment banker.  

Although Harris has yet to become the nominee, top Democrats are all acting as if she has it sewn up. Democratic donors are funding an effort to investigate the backgrounds of the people most likely to join the ticked as Harris’s VP choice. These potential candidates include the governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro, Arizona’s Senator Mark Kelly (the former astronaut), and Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. Note that each one of them comes from a competitive state where the national election could be decided.

Altogether, the picture shows that with Biden resigning as a candidate and endorsing Harris, Trumpworld is wobbling on its axis. I say they are in serious trouble. But if you don’t believe me, take a look at what New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, a Republican critical of Trump, recently told CNN:

"Believe me: if and when they make the switch, everything's going to change. It's going to get very close in a lot of those tighter states. There's going to be more energy. The Democrat Party will be rewarded, if you will, by independents saying, 'None of us liked that whole Biden-Trump ticket to start with — you guys had the courage to change your nominee.' "

No wonder they are scared.