Republicans can’t think of a message to counter the Democratic surge with Harris and Walz, so they’re resorting to lame jokes and racism.
Harris and Walz inspire Philadelphia and criticize Trump and Vance campaign
Kamala Harris introduced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate before a roaring crowd in Philadelphia, whereupon the two took swipes at Donald Trump.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is touring swing states with her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and she appears extremely joyful, delivering a positive message to huge crowds of supporters.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is doing none of these things. He has a campaign rally planned for this week in deep-red Montana, but otherwise he seems busy posting confused rants on social media and trying to gain acceptance for the slightly racist-sounding nickname “Kamabla.”
There is still a long way to go before that election, and a lot can and will happen. But now, weeks after a confident Republican convention, Trump, Republican lawmakers, and right-wing commentators are all in retreat and seem unable to defend themselves against a Democratic platform from Harris and Walz.
Trying to portray Tim Walz as radical will not be easy for Trump
When Walz was nominated for vice president this week, Trump said the humble Midwesterner would “unleash hell on earth.” Right-wing preachers were convinced by the idea that Walz was some kind of radical Antifa super-soldier in the friendly costume of a 60-year-old white father.
But there’s little sign that anyone is falling for it. Walz’s policies are widely popular, his state is doing well, and it seems more than a little silly to suggest that a guy who looks like he’d be happy to help you fix your lawnmower’s carburetor is also a lying socialist tyrant.
Midwestern dad takes on MAGA: Trump will soon learn that voters like Walz’s “progressive” policies
And Trump’s racist attacks like calling Harris “Kamabla” won’t work either
I am sure Trump will continue to marginalize Harris as an outsider, but his racist comment that she “accidentally turned black” was met with insult, ridicule, and even anger from Republicans.
So Trump came up with “Kamabla.” Is it a combination of “Kamala” and “Black,” is he making fun of her name, is it just weird old man humor? Maybe he’s using the same reptilian brain thinking he used to name-call Nikki Haley in the Republican primaries, when he twisted her first name, Nimarata, into “Nimrada” and “Nimbra.”
To make it a little more offensive, he put “Crazy” in front of it: Crazy Kamabla. He is definitely the kind of thinker you want to see at the top of America.
Trump is obviously afraid and is becoming increasingly strange
While he was coming up with silly nicknames, Trump took the time to write tirades like this one, which he published on Tuesday:
“What are the odds that fraudulent Joe Biden, the WORST President in US history, who had his Presidency unconstitutionally STOLEN by Kamabla, Barack HUSSEIN Obama, crazy Nancy Pelosi, shady Adam Schiff, crying Chuck Schumer and others from the crazy left, will blow up the Democratic Convention and try to reclaim his nomination by first challenging me to another DEBATE. He feels he made a historically tragic mistake by handing the US Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the world he hates most and he wants it back, NOW!!!”
Trump seems confused: Has Harris finally broken Trump? He flails around wildly, has mishaps and runs away in fear.
When faced with such madness, most people would say, “I think we should ask someone to check on Grandpa.”
I can’t even understand what he’s talking about, and anyone who can read that out loud and say, “Finally, a presidential candidate that makes sense!” needs to know that there are people who love them and that there are ways for them to get help.
The Republicans are trying so hard to put a stamp on the Harriz-Walz ticket, but …
With polls swinging in Harris’ favor since she rose to the top of the ticket, Trump isn’t just losing the election. He’s losing his mind. And his campaign and the Republican Party as a whole seem helpless at the moment to change the perception of the Democrats’ surge and the Republicans’ confusion.
Far-right podcaster Ben Shapiro posted a picture of Walz on social media and wrote: “Weird move by Kamala to pick Marxist Don Rickles, but that’s the way it is.” An outdated reference to a popular comedian? Spot on!
Far-right culture warrior Christopher Rufo, who helped Republicans turn academic critical race theory into a political weapon, was on the verge of attacking the Minnesota governor, deriding him as a “white man with an agenda.”
Rufo wrote of Walz: “He knows that discrimination can only be defeated by more discrimination. That’s why he boldly demotes whites and excludes them from government programs. It’s not ‘justice’ if it ‘only affects us,’ he says as a white man.”
Good! These lines are completely understandable for normal voters and are not perceived as strange.
Did you hear that great joke about Kamala and walls?
Former Republican Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took to Fox News and said of Harris, “She was against walls. Now she’s finally found a Walz she likes. Tim Walz, no real walls.”
Hahahaha, we’re laughing because that’s a good joke! The youth vote is now going to the Republicans!
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung shared a social media post from Trump’s running mate JD Vance, who told people on Wednesday he was on the tarmac in Wisconsin near Harris’ Air Force Two jet. Cheung added: “Make sure AF2 is thoroughly cleaned because God only knows what @KamalaHarris and her team did there. The smell alone in that plane has got to be insane.”
To which any normal person would say: “Dude, shut up.”
So they have “Kamabla,” a fan fiction about Joe Biden’s revenge, comedian comparisons, not-so-veiled racism, and a wall joke. Perfect.
A positive, normal message proves to be poison for Trump’s angry rhetoric
The Harris campaign is countering Trump’s tyrannical and always Trump-centric approach by focusing on a positive message that unites Americans and is committed to protecting and expanding people’s freedoms. The message and the messengers are effective so far.
‘Tampon Tim’? Seriously, Republicans, that’s the best you can do? A compliment?
In an interview with MSNBC, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg summed up the difficulties of the Trump campaign as follows:
“You can’t imagine an election campaign or politicians who aren’t concerned about themselves. As impressive and convincing as the votes are, they have also made it clear that this election campaign isn’t about them. It’s about you, it’s about us, it’s about the future of this country.”
Impotently shouting “Kamabla!” will not stop the Democrats’ advance. It will only cement the belief that Trump is weird and people are sick of his antics.
And this painful reality causes the man in Mar-a-Lago to lose his mind, even if he still has some left.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
