Tactic calibrated to resonate with young and independent voters who, polls show, are now more engaged with election

US Democrats have spent recent days trying out a relatively new attack line on Donald Trump: that he is weird. The tactic is almost certainly calibrated to resonate with young and independent voters who, polls show, are moving from marked disinterest in the now-dropped matchup between Joe Biden and his presidential predecessor to engagement in the 100-day contest between Trump and Kamala Harris.

In a press release Thursday, vice-president and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris issued a list of the main takeaways of what Trump had given the American people. “Is Donald Trump OK?” the X message said. The seventh of nine entries was: “Trump is old and quite weird?”

At a fundraising event in Massachusetts on Saturday, Harris tried out the line again, describing what Trump and running mate JD Vance had been saying about her as “just plain weird”.

“I mean that’s the box you put that in,” Harris said after Trump had called her “a bum” the previous day and Vance disparaged her in 2021 as a “childless cat (lady)”.

  • AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world
    225·
    5 months ago

    Yes… If weird equals racist, loser, pedophile, soulless, senile, moron.

    I am in full support of Harris, but I hate this attack. Am I understanding this correctly?Describing that asshole as weird is an insult to weird. Weird is what most of us are. I very much hope it is not something I have in common with that orange shit stain

    • hushable@lemmy.world
      33·
      5 months ago

      for some reason, out of all of the adjectives you listed, weird is the only one that seems to have an effect on boomers. If it works, it works

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
      14·
      5 months ago

      I like the weird attack - it’s quite dismissive and robs him of power. I absolutely agree he’s a threat to democracy but he loves that attack because his narcissistic ass is empowered by it… Weird fits well enough but it also leans towards dismissing him from being a mainstream figure.

      • Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
        6·
        5 months ago

        I’m amazed how his taste for well-done steaks slathered in ketchup hasn’t alienated all the proud carnivores. Because that shit is fuckin weird, man.

    • solsangraal@lemmy.zipEnglish
      23·
      5 months ago

      calling trump “weird” is the textbook definition of “going soft on crime”