Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images
Kamala Harris has been on a lot of magazine covers lately. That’s to be expected, as she was just named the Democratic presidential nominee in an unprecedented last-minute switch and the polls now have her in the lead. But Donald Trump seems upset about losing his status as a major figure in the press, and one recent cover image has really gotten under his skin: this illustration of Harris on his beloved Time Magazine.
Trump mentioned them first Time Cover during his disastrous chat with Elon Musk on Monday night. “She looks like the most beautiful actress who ever lived,” he complained. “It was a drawing, and in fact she looked very much like our great First Lady Melania. She didn’t look like Camilla (Kamala), that’s true. But of course she’s a beautiful woman, so let’s leave it at that, shall we?”
Many people pointed out that this was a very odd statement, since Harris looks nothing like Melania Trump on the cover and comparing the looks of your female opponent to that of your wife is generally a bad move. But Trump is still fixated on the image. He brought it up again on Wednesday night during a rally in Asheville, North Carolina, that was ostensibly about the economy but included many personal attacks against Harris.
“Now they are putting them on the front pages of Time “They don’t use a picture. They don’t use a picture, they use an artist’s sketch. I want to use this artist. I want to find this artist, I like him a lot.”
For weeks, conservatives have been making the (arguably dubious) accusation that the mainstream media’s coverage of Harris is too positive. A handful of right-wing media outlets complained about TimeTrump criticized the coverage in particular, calling this week’s cover story too worshipful. However, it’s unclear whether Trump even read the article. His criticism focused entirely on the cover — and not just the depiction of a hopeful Harris surrounded by adoring supporters. Trump’s specific criticism is the vice president’s appearance; he said, “She looks like the most beautiful actress that ever lived” and complained that “they don’t use a picture” to show what Harris actually looks like.
Time Strictly speaking did Use an image to design the cover. Neil Jamieson created the photo illustration, and the magazine also credits “Andrew Harnik – Getty Images.” The illustration appears to include this photo of Harris that Harnik took last month. While the cover image is stylized, her facial features have not been altered. (Jamieson did not respond to questions about his process.)
Vice President Kamala Harris attends a celebration of the NCAA championship teams at the White House on July 22, 2024.
Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Trump’s problem with the cover probably stems from his long-standing retro obsession with Time. Trump first appeared on the cover in 1989 and boasted that he had been featured more times than anyone else. That is not true; by the end of his presidency, Trump had been on the cover 35 times, ranking fourth behind three other presidents. But he made up for it by putting himself on fake Time Covers that are framed and displayed in at least four of his golf clubs.
A false Trump Time Cover exhibited at Trump National Doral Miami on June 24, 2017.
Photo: Angel Valentin/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Time has not ignored Trump. The magazine interviewed him in May and he was featured on the cover (a subsequent Joe Biden cover was similarly designed):
And Time released a special issue on the Trump assassination attempt, which includes this undeniably tough photo:
But Trump won’t be satisfied until his favorite magazine puts a pretty filter over his face and releases a cover showing Harris with devil horns.
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