During the 2012 election, then-candidate Mitt Romney traveled to the UK for a “global statesman” tour. Nevermind that Barack Obama was already president, and already had existing relationships (warm relationships) with European leaders. Romney decided that he would do a racist dog-whistle about America’s first Black president, telling the Telegraph that, if elected, he would have better relations with Britain because of his “Anglo-Saxon heritage,” and that the Obama White House “didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have.” Crash cut to 2017 and the Trump presidency. That man destroyed relations with many of our closest allies and NATO was extremely panicked that Trump would destroy one of the most successful alliances in history. America was a global laughingstock during the Trump years, and President Biden and VP Harris have worked hard to repair our standing in the world and America’s relationships abroad. Well, guess what Trump just said?
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested that Vice President Harris wouldn’t be able to stand up to world leaders because of her appearance, adding that he didn’t want to spell it out but viewers would know what he meant.
“She’ll be like a play toy,” Trump — who has a history of using sexist attacks and stereotypes in campaigns against women — said in a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham, a portion of which aired on Tuesday night. “They look at her and they say, ‘We can’t believe we got so lucky.’ They’re going to walk all over her.”
Trump then turned to look directly at the camera and added: “And I don’t want to say as to why. But a lot of people understand it.”
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said he was not referring to race or gender and went on to criticize Harris over her record on immigration and other Biden administration policies. “She is weak, dishonest and dangerously liberal, and that’s why the American people will reject her on November 5th,” Leavitt said.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The pro-Harris super PAC American Bridge 21st Century called Trump’s remark about how Harris would stack up against world leaders “very gross and weird.”
Much like Mitt Romney’s comments in 2012, at a technical level, this just falls flat. Kamala Harris is the sitting vice president. The Biden administration has already sent VP Harris to dozens of countries, and she has existing relationships with many world leaders. In the lead up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Biden even sent VP Harris to Europe to personally deliver intelligence briefings to European leaders. Trump thinks the rest of the world is like him, sexist and racist. But it’s a f–king joke to pretend that Trump didn’t permanently alter America’s global standing. European leaders openly mocked him, Asian leaders were panicked at the instability and all of the despots recognized Trump as a kindred spirit.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.