“Donald Trump — through his way of trying to name-call and demean and divide –” Vice President Kamala Harris said, “tries to project as though those things are a sign of strength, when in fact the man is quite weak.”
Harris was speaking to radio host Charlamagne Tha God and his largely Black audience, seeking to undermine a portrayal of Trump as a gangster-like strongman that has reportedly found favor among a segment of young male Black voters. (Some polls have Trump winning 25% of the vote among this group.)
“He’s weak,” Harris said, listing three specific examples of Trump’s weakness, as she sees it. “It’s a sign of weakness that you want to please dictators and seek their flattery and favor. It’s a sign of weakness that you would demean American’s military and America’s service members. It’s a sign of weakness that you don’t have the courage to stand up for the Constitution of the United States and the principles upon which it stands. This man is weak and he is unfit.”
Kamala Harris explains to Charlamagne tha God why Trump’s fondness for dictator is actually a reflection of his weakness, not his strength pic.twitter.com/5yBgncQIPD
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 15, 2024
There is evidence to back each of Harris’s claims. Trump has been candid about his respect for global autocratic strongmen like Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orbán, and Kim Jong Un. Trump has been accused of repeatedly demeaning the service of military servicemembers (he has denied the accusations), and he has overtly demeaned the military service and sacrifice of the late Sen. John McCain (“not a war hero”).
Trump has also called for the “termination” of the parts of the Constitution that prevented his attempt to retain the presidency in 2020, relegating the Constitution to a position below his own desire to stay in power after losing the election.
Making false claims of “massive fraud,” Trump wrote in a social media post that “fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
Harris’s portrayal of Trump as weak, rather than strong, is her attempt to redefine strength as a quality manifest not in threats and name-calling, but in a combination of tenacity and tolerance.
Harris’s appeal to young Black male voters comes on the heels of a similar tough-love style appeal by former President Barack Obama, who — campaigning for Harris in Pennsylvania — castigated the cohort of younger Black men who are reportedly leaning toward voting for Trump.
The subtext of Obama’s appeal is a request that these men check their sexism at the door. Obama said: “Part of it makes me think — I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman that’s president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for it.”
NBA legend and business billionaire Magic Johnson also chimed in on the topic in Michigan, his native state, saying “Kamala’s opponent promised a lot of things to the Black community that he did not deliver on. And we’ve got to make sure we help Black men understand that.”