Harris campaign gets #TrumpIsWeird trending with new line of attack

Washington DC - As the 2024 presidential election enters the home straight, Kamala Harris' campaign is trying out a new line of attack against Donald Trump: highlighting the weird factor.

Kamala Harris' campaign has been calling Donald Trump "quite weird" in a campaign strategy focusing on the Republican's oddness.
Kamala Harris' campaign has been calling Donald Trump "quite weird" in a campaign strategy focusing on the Republican's oddness.  © Collage: REUTERS

Harris, who is all but guaranteed to officially become the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, has already turned the tables on the 78-year-old Trump by highlighting the fact that he is now by far the elder candidate, in an election dominated by the age issue.

Now, the VP and her supporters are tentatively adding another epithet into the mix: "Trump is old and quite weird?"

That's what the Harris campaign sent out to voters in an email last week, complete with the tongue-in-cheek question mark.

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It's not the first time Democrats have focused Trump's undeniable oddness, as the Guardian pointed out. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who is among the favorites to be named on the Democratic presidential ticket, called the former president's obsession with mentioning fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter at his rallies "weird."

And Harris herself used the word at a fundraising event in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on Saturday.

"Some of what he and his running mate are saying...well, it's just plain weird," she said, referring to Trump and his pick for VP, Ohio Senator JD Vance, who has been referring to Harris as a "childless cat lady."

The line seemed to work particularly well with younger people and is suited to social media discourse. Case in point: on Sunday night, #TrumpIsWeird was briefly trending on X.

An uptick in youth, Black, and Latino enthusiasm for Harris also showed in a new Wall Street Journal poll, which had within two points of Trump.

Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS

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