The Old Man and the She
"I'd love to be nice, but I'm dealing against real garbage."
-- New Trump yesterday, on Kamala Harris
Well, that didn't last long.
I hope that any press who suggested, based on only the first 15 minutes of his RNC speech, there was a new, more uniting Trump do some soul searching and a mea culpa.
As I wrote the day after, there is only "Trump," and there has always only been Trump. Not a wisp of anything new. This about "garbage," that is Trump. It’s been Trump ever since he was sued by the federal government in 1973 – half a century ago -- over racial discrimination for not renting to Black people. It’s been Trump since 1989 when he took out a full page ad during the Central Park Five trial and called for the return of the death penalty – before the five young Black men were exonerated. And as the campaign goes on and as his early dementia worsens and the threat of Kamala Harris (and the threat of his remaining trials) solidifies, he will only become Trumpier.
Later in the day, Fox host (and former W. Bush press secretary) Dana Perino was talking with Democratic strategist Michael Meehan about the speech President Biden had given the night before. And at one point, she said since Biden had dropped out of the race, discussion of age can now be "put aside."
Too hilarious.
As the old ad campaign for deodorant said, "Never let them see you sweat."
MAGOPs can only wish discussion of age is put aside. Dream on. After all, when your candidate put the meal on the table, it will stay there and be eaten. With gusto. When your candidate is now the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history, and he made age a campaign issue, it will be an issue. When your candidate shows signs of what psychologists say is early dementia, it won’t – can’t – shouldn’t be put aside.
To his credit, Mr. Meehan did not put it aside. And brought it up again.
Kamala Harris’s campaign made it plain yesterday morning that Trump’s age would not be put aside – nor would the reality of his crimes. That was when they released an email immediately responding to Trump's Fox interview that morning – and bluntly and accurately entitled it: "Statement on a 78-Year-Old Criminal's Fox News Appearance."
A couple of passages in the statement leaped out.
The first was -- "After watching Fox News this morning we only have one question. Is Donald Trump ok?"
And the second passage that stood out was a quote that came from campaign spokesman James Singer. That was when he stated -- "The dangerous threats of an old man don't create jobs, protect our rights, or keep us safe.” Blunt, pithy and focused on a larger, important issue for deeper context. (I also liked his next sentence: "Vice President Kamala Harris offers something different: freedom, lower costs, and opportunity for all." A very good political statement to build on his theme. Though it’s still the “The dangerous threats of an old man don't create jobs…” that brutally stands out.
Obviously, it was racist and hate-filled when Trump called Kamala Harris “garbage.” But it was also really incredibly stupid. After all, unless you’re part of Trump’s extreme right, fascist, white supremacist base, no matter whether you like or hate Kamala Harris’s policies or personality, I’m sure that almost no one else thinks of her as “garbage." So, calling her that only makes Trump look utterly dismal. And racist. And misogynist. And like an old man shouting at the moon and yelling at the kids who kicked their ball on his yard.
Also, I don’t think many people listening to Trump on Fox even believed him when he said, “I’d like to be nice.”
In fact, most of them probably don’t want him to.
Which will contrast throughout the campaign with the two Harris attributes that the Trump team has tried to smear her with – that Kamala Harris loves to laugh and dance.
Two other attributes are critical in the race. One for VP Harris and one for Trump. They were both noted in this ad that Nicole Wallace aired on her show yesterday. I couldn’t find it online, but recorded it with my phone off the TV.
It’s pithy and pretty much says it all.
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