Disgraced former president Donald Trump is absolutely terrified of facing Kamala Harris as his opponent in the November election, but it’s not because she’s a strong black woman, according to Amanda Marcotte of Salon.
Instead, Trump knows that as a former prosecutor, Harris can hone in on his biggest political liability: His history of sexually assaulting women.
“Trump enjoys committing pretty much every type of crime, from siccing a murderous mob after his former vice president to epic levels of business fraud, so there’s a cornucopia of options for Harris to choose from,” Marcotte explains. “But a Harris ad from the 2020 campaign went viral online for one simple reason: It forefronts his long history of sexually assaulting women.”
The ad in question contained this tagline: “She prosecuted sex predators; he is one.” And that was similar to something Harris said Monday during a campaign appearance in Delaware.
“I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. Hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.”
Harris is also likely to remind voters of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which he bragged about how he likes to kiss women against their will and “grab ’em by the pussy.”
“It’s not just Trump anymore. The entire GOP has leaned hard into toxic masculinity and often overt misogyny. The Republican National Convention was a grotesque display of both. The convention stage was a traffic jam of men who had been violent towards women or made excuses for violence starting with the nominee himself. Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White, who praised Trump as being a master of the ‘tough guy business,’ had previously been filmed slapping his wife,” Marcotte notes.
Ironically, Trump has played up how he treats women as a way to solidify his support among male voters, Marcotte continues.
“Having a candidate who can talk about this without squirming or tripping over words is especially important in a race where abortion is a central issue. Ten states have passed abortion bans that have no exceptions for rape victims. The news is still peppered with stories of underage rape victims being forced to travel out of state or worse, give birth to a rapist’s child. The Republican vice presidential nominee wants a national standard of forced childbirth for rape victims. Having a candidate who can speak about the horrors of this in an experienced and concise manner may matter a lot.”
As a former sex crimes prosecutor, Harris is uniquely qualified to hit the convicted felon ex-president where it will hurt him the most and drive down his numbers among women and young voters, Marcotte concludes.
“(Harris) “may be in a better position to push this issue than any other potential Democratic nominee could have been.”
