Trump was hoping to have blacks question Harris' "blackness."

[kerry-is-my-prez]

I was going over different theories as to what Trump was up to and this one makes the most sense to me:

https://www.electoral-vote.com/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAA-AWnIbb8s9hY86ZEh-VXwzHjKLj2#item-4

Our assessment of what happened is this: Trump knows he needs Black votes, and he also knows that he's less likely to get them up against a Black woman than a white man. And so, he's decided that his best hope is to convince Black Americans that she's not really one of them. The problem here is that this is a pretty offensive judgment for a white guy to make, particularly in front of an audience of Black people. And when it started to go poorly, Trump reverted to "defense" mode, and started lashing out. It does not help that he has, by all indications, lost some of his mental agility, and so is not in a great position to choose his words well.
Even after reading all this, readers might reach their own conclusions, and decide that J.W. and M.M. and all the op-ed writers have the right of it. Fair enough. But keep one other thing in mind: In 2020 (a little) and in 2016 (a lot), everyone (including us) kept falling victim to the notion that Trump was playing 3-D chess, and that there was some deep, strategic plan to the crazy things he said and did. It turns out there was no 3-D chess in 2016, or in 2020, and we don't know why anything would be different now. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes an unhinged racist is just an unhinged racist. (Z)

[Duncanpup]

1. Trump is terrified of VP Harris.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. Trump has brain damage from sniffing his own farts too often

[TwilightZone]

3. I think that's a stretch.

I think he did it to bump his street cred with his base, same agenda as always. From his and their perspective, he went into enemy territory and "won". He can also do his usual play-the-victim game and whine about how poorly he was treated, blah, blah.

I don't think even Trump is dumb enough to think he could convince black people that Harris isn't black.

[SilasSouleII]

22. Maybe not all, but some

Maybe giving cover to the small, but growing percentage of black men supporting him.

[democrattotheend]

4. That's what I've been saying

He's probably noticed that she's only getting 70-75% of the black vote in polls right now (compared to 87% for Biden in 2020 and 93-95% for Obama), and getting black voters to question whether she's really one of them could be effective (although it could and hopefully will backfire). And he simultaneously juices up his racist MAGA supporters. And it's a risk with suburban white women, but he probably figures some of them will at least give him credit for showing up.

[localroger]

5. That's exactly what he was trying to do, but his usual tone deafness got him

Not being Black, what TFG does not understand is that actual Black people have been dealing with "shades of blackness" for centuries. In much of the South you were automatically Black (and therefore subject to all the sanctions) if you had 1/32 African ancestry, which meant a lot of lily-white looking folks had a nasty secret hiding in their ancestry. This resulted in a lot of family bibles and courthouses being burned in the early 20th century. So yeah, Black people are aware that not many people are 100% African ancestry, and nobody cares because that has never mattered. Kamala is well above the line which would have forced her on sight to use the separate water fountains and carry a Green Book if she had been traveling around before the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Nobody black or white who paid any attention at all would ever have believed she is "not black" in any sense. And for someone who enjoys TFG's 0% isolation from all the trouble that causes to bloviate on the topic is just an insult to everybody.

[Metaphorical]

6. I doubt it's that low

We're in a really weird time right now - the polls are only just beginning to catch the changeover from Biden to Harris, and what that means that any older polls are probably more reflective of Biden still being the candidate. Biden was respected because of his historical ties with the civil rights movement. Harris is, comparatively speaking, still an unknown. If the bounce I'm seeing is any indication, Harris is pretty likely to rally the black community to a degree last seen with Obama in 2008.

[Deep State Witch]

7. Kamala Pledged AKA at Howard University

The only way that she could be blacker is if she was in "Black Panther."

[not fooled]

8. He thinks everyone is as stupid as his supporters

and that other groups would fall for his BS. He's delusional, of course.

[ms liberty]

9. Oh yea. It was the "she's not black enough card" but

He's blind to the fact that an old white bigot can't say that kind of sh*t to black people and expect them to believe him or listen to him or do anything but laugh at him. It was delusional of him to think he could do that.

I thought it was hilarious. His face was a real treat.

[unblock]

10. Taje away bigotry and misogyny and he's got little left to talk about

Maybe wailing about "lawfare".

The only issues he cares about are ones that let him talk about countries in bigoted terms, like immigration and tariffs.

[Celerity]

11. Dodgy Hotep types will (and did back in 2020) attack her for not only being a 'true black American' but also simply for

being a woman, as Hoteps are almost always very misogynistic (and very homophobic) as well.

What is Hotep? | A Very Smart Brotha Explains

Here is a good video from 2019 that deals with the 'Is Harris really 'black' thing:

[malaise]

20. That's very good

Thanks

[ZonkerHarris]

12. Racist whites like Old Don think that if you're "half" anything, you are nothing.

[Gore1FL]

24. That's why they are 100% assholes. nt

[malaise]

13. 100% correct

Divide and rule

[keithbvadu2]

14. Can we question Trump's Swedishness?

Trump family claimed to be of Swedish stock when German was inconvenient.

[wnylib]

15. Americans abroad claimed to be Canadian during W's rule.

[Bundbuster]

16. The spineless bottom dweller

[Mz Pip]

17. Trump Whitesplaining Harris' Blackness

probably didn’t go over well.

Read the room weirdo.

[kimbutgar]

18. Any Black person knows if you went to Howard University and was in a black sorority you is black girrrrl!

[PatrickforB]

19. His daddy wore the hood, and the apple didn't fall far from that tree. n/t

[KentuckyWoman]

21. Did anyone else notice?

Sitting, you could see how puffy his ankles are. Advanced heart failure puffy. I know other things cause that as well, but none of them are good.

Also, Rachel Scott deserves a raise.

[Escape]

23. Yes, exactly..

Kerry, you have nailed it.

There are surely more sophisticated ways of describing Trump's level of intelligence, but I just have to lean back on my Kansas farm boy upbringing to say that he is- JUST. PLAIN. DUMB.

His maddening method of speaking, that leads to multiple interpretations of what he is saying, is not some highly researched method of social or political manipulation. No, it's a grown man who is too dumb to make salient comments on any topic.

His only defense against his avalanche of stupidity is that he is just too mentally, emotionally and physically lazy to take the time to research what he is about to say. And, he knows that he can get away with anything when he is addressing his gaudy braindead MAGA cheering section.

The media insults itself by trying to make sense of Trump's constant vocal ejaculations.

[sillywabbit]

25. Electoral-vote.com

Electoral-vote.com is a great site. I actually discovered it before I discovered Democratic Underground, and I read it almost every day. If you haven't already, take a look at it.

[Rhiannon12866]

29. Looks very informative, thanks!

[Silent Type]

26. One thing is clear-- trump and Vance aren't looking good in their Klan robes. Base loves it, but few others.

[struggle4progress]

27. Old Don's hoping he can turn the discussion noisily into "Kamala! Black! Kamala! Black! Kamala! Black! Kamala! Black!"

and thereby avoid discussing any issues -- because his senility prevents him from talking cogently

[louslobbs]

28. How's that going for him?

LOL……

[no_hypocrisy]

30. Unfortunately, for many in this country, biracial is too sophisticated a

concept to understand and appreciate. IOW, you're one classification or another.

My cousin's daughters are a combination of African-American and Ashkenazi Jew. I fail to see them as one or another. They are beautiful; they are intelligent; they are kind.

That being said, I do recognize their African-American heritage and show respect for it. It's not invisible or something to ignore. They are proud of it.