Harris faces delicate walk with Trump’s racism at presidential debate
Though Vice President Kamala Harris has faced incessant attacks from Donald Trump and Republicans on her race and gender since emerging as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, don’t expect her to lean too much into it during Tuesday night’s presidential debate.
According to the New York Times, the Harris campaign has “ditched” what she sees as an “unsuccessful” strategy” to call out Trump’s racism and sexism.
The outlet reported, “The vice president’s aides believe it’s a waste of time to tell voters what a terrible person Mr. Trump is, given how hard it is to find a voter who does not already have a fixed view of his character — good or bad,” said the report.
Political experts who spoke with theGrio about the Harris team’s approach say it will likely be a delicate balance for the vice president as to whether she takes the high road to avoid Trump’s attacks on her identity as a historic Black and Asian female candidate.
Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist and former operative for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, believes the Harris campaign is “going about it the right way” with its plan to avoid playing too much into Trump’s race-baiting.
“No one is really going to be shocked,” Payne said of Trump’s frequent opines about Harris’ identity, including falsely suggesting in July that she decided to “turn Black” for political expediency.
“I think the campaign is saying the base understands how grotesque Donald Trump is,” explained Payne, who said the Harris campaign appears more focused on “bringing on new voters” instead of stating the obvious.
He maintained, “There are very few voters who would hear Donald Trump insult Kamala Harris and be shocked.”
However, Payne said not overly emphasizing Trump’s racism or sexism doesn’t mean the vice president should allow Trump to “disrespect” her. He added, “It’s not like she’s going to allow herself to be defamed.”
The strategist continued, “I think it’s just a matter of will she use that moment to focus on Trump and his grotesque kind of talking about people of color and talking about women, or will she use that to pivot to this is why you’re the wrong person to lead the country in 2025 and beyond.”
Reecie Colbert, a political commentator and frequent Harris defender, anticipates the debate’s moderators, ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis, to ask Harris about Trump’s remarks about her race. She said it would be a “missed opportunity” if she avoided hitting Trump on his racism and sexism.
“I think she has the ability to remind people of his racist record, but using that as a launching pad of saying this person, who doesn’t have the capacity to understand the Black experience in America, is not going to dictate how I talk about my Blackness,” said Colbert, who is the host of the Sirius XM radio show, “The Reecie Colbert Show.”
If it were her, Colbert said she would say, “I’m not going to let a person who called Mexicans rapists, who said that Black people were ‘living in hell,’ dictate the terms on how I talk about my Blackness.”
Taking Trump to task for the racist or sexist remarks he has made could also “galvanize” young voters and voters of color, Colbert noted.
Black voters, in particular, have indicated an increased enthusiasm for Harris over President Joe Biden. Since becoming the party’s nominee, Harris has polled better with Black voters. A recent survey conducted by the Washington Post and Ipsos found that 69% of Black voters are “absolutely certain to vote” for Harris in November. Eighty-two percent said they will “definitely” or “probably” vote for Harris.
Moreover, the share of Black Americans under 30 — a coveted share of young voters — who support her increased by 15 percentage points.
Compared to the surge for Harris, Black voters who back Trump have remained the same at 12%.
Payne expects that much like then-Democratic candidate Barack Obama in 2008, Harris will see a greater surge of support from Black voters than current polls reflect.
“Call me a skeptic in terms of Kamala Harris underperforming previous Democrats like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton,” he told theGrio.
But for any skeptical Black voter, Payne said Harris has offered up “pretty ambitious plans” to improve the economy and for minority communities and “boost the middle class.”
Harris has proposed child tax credits up to $6,000, down payments for first-time homebuyers and massive tax deductions for small businesses.
Colbert said another policy issue that Harris could lean into is the cost of health care, telling theGrio, “That’s something that Republicans certainly don’t want to talk a lot about because they have no solutions.”
She also thinks Harris should lift up her work on drafting the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a comprehensive police reform bill that would establish more federal accountability. The Floyd bill has yet to be passed in the United States Congress.
“Donald Trump is talking about giving police more immunity,” said Colbert, adding, “Making that contrast would be something that I think could be good.”
However, Colbert said she isn’t exactly buying the suggestion that Harris needs to do more to cover ground with Black voters.
“I don’t know if you’re going to win over the ‘migrants are getting free rent and Obama phones’ — I don’t know if you’re going to win over that crowd with this debate,” she explained. “I think it’s going to be more so about galvanizing Black voters, as opposed to converting a Black Trump voter to a Kamala voter.”