Harris has nailed the Trump campaign's Achilles heel -- and needs to keep going: analyst

[applegrove]

Harris has nailed the Trump campaign's Achilles heel — and needs to keep going: analyst

Matthew Chapman

August 7, 2024 3:24PM ET

https://www.rawstory.com/news/harris-trump-weird/

"SNIP............

Vice President Kamala Harris and her surrogates have leaned heavily into attacking former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, as "weird."

In doing so, they are striking at them in a way that truly hurts strongman figures, wrote authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat for MSNBC.

"It’s the summer of weird Republicans," she wrote. "GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump repeatedly mentions Hannibal Lecter at his rallies, speaking about the fictional cannibal as though he were a real person. 'He’s a lovely man. He’d love to have you for dinner,' must be one of the strangest things a candidate has said while trying to attract votes. Meanwhile, Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, has made news with his bizarre opinions, including a 2021 remark that Americans with children should be able to vote more times in an election than their childless compatriots."

Authoritarians have no problem with being called evil, Ben-Ghiat continued. But they despise being called weird — because it means they aren't being taken seriously; it means they're being made fun of, rather than feared. They understand that when they become subjects of satire, people necessarily question everything about them.

.............SNIP"

[Fullduplexxx]

1. That and crowd size

[Mme. Defarge]

15. Size matters...

[AZ8theist]

17. In a rare moment of truth-telling, Trump recently told a crowd about the actual size of his "mushroom":

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

27. He was describing the pump it fit into ...nt

[Quanto Magnus]

23. He's gotta get handy with them...

so maybe more fitting for Tinyhands Von Shitinpants

[wishstar]

2. Instead of calling them evil, calling them weird for saying us normal folks are evil

is a smart tactic as well as the crowd size comparison and Walz's theme of being good neighbors because most voters want to feel they are part of a sensible group of normal decent average Americans, not part of a fringe mob bunch of over-the-top angry deranged lunatics.

[wnylib]

5. Exactly. Being called weird puts Trump snd Vance on the fringe

of society instead of at the center. It weakens their public power and image.

[GB_RN]

10. And That's Why...

We should refer to EVERY single Reichwinger as “weird.” Seriously, they court these conspiracy-addled Q-balls, who are weird as fuck, and IMO, that makes the whole goddamned bunch of them weird.

[Blaukraut]

12. Yup! Calling them evil implies strength and empowers them

And it's attractive to their cultists. But once we start calling them weird, and pointed out how weak and laughable they are, those cultists will start peeling off. We don't need them to vote for Kamala. We just need them to not vote for Trump.

[Justice matters.]

16. The weird felon told them he doesn't want, nor need, their votes.

I know it may be because his pee2025 fascists probably told him about plants in swing states planning to refuse to certify their county's results (but they have been "warned" they could end up in jail if they refuse to do their duties correctly).

The weird idiot can't shut up in advance about the crimes he plans to commit or get committed by his cultists for him!

[uponit7771]

30. Denormalize extremist works even for terrorist, remember reading long time ago

[DFab420]

3. Hopefully all the pearl clutchers and message tweakers here read this

And realize how silly calls to stop or change “weird” are.

[Cha]

4. That makes perfect sense

[liberalla]

6. Keep it up! It's so frickin perfect for them!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. People who are weird and creepy are to be shunned, not elected or trusted.

[onlyadream]

8. Kamala and Walz are the cool kids

Trump is a bully and Vance is the bully’s very weird side kick. Oh, and Trump is crazy weird.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

28. And Vance is Grover Dill from A Christmas Story, the creepy toady sidekick ...nt

[JenniferJuniper]

9. If Donnie does agree to a debate,

she should regularly say things like "Wow, Donald, that was a weird answer..."

[Marcuse]

14. In response to Fox's first bad faith question: "That's why you had to pay a $1B settlement for lying to help Trump."

Response to next bad faith question:
Well that’s what you tell your viewers, but what about your emails?

[Emrys]

11. I'd keep "boring" in reserve as the follow-up tactic

I think Trump would really hate that, and if Trump's fans aren't bored with the same old whining schtick already, they may well be sick and tired of the same monotonous MEMEME gibberish by November.

[Hamlette]

13. Laughing at them worked against the KKK

after WWI the KKK reemerged stronger than ever. It was a scary time. It was beginning to happen again after WWII but a clever radio personality started making fun of them, especially their titles "Grand Wizard" etc comparing them to comic book "heroes" and they fell apart.

Weird has been a nice touch. Or creepy, or silly.

Keep laughing Kamala. It's working.

It is also interesting when you think they can't laugh at themselves. They can't afford to. The house of cards will come down if they do.

[quakerboy]

18. wierd is accurate and effective

But it won't hold attention for 90 days.

I'm curious what's next. Personally I'm on board for pointing out their deviance. OR maybe we can point put how cheaply trump sells out US interests. Like.. at least get enough to make it worth it

[Submariner]

19. Putin's Puppet jab at the felon worked for Hillary

at their debate. Try it again?

As you may recall, when Hillary called him Putin’s puppet, trump momentarily lost his composure and started blurting out “no.. no you’re the puppet…you’re the puppet.. not me”.

[MagickMuffin]

20. He's a One Trick Pony and he's WEIRD

His campaign are a nothing but a rehash of 2016, 2020, and now 2024!

[Vivid Lizard]

21. Synonyms For Weird

I so agree about weird. It's better than dangerous, evil, treacherous, traitor and all the other descriptions that magas either dismiss or love. These accurate words do have their place, but keep up the Weirdo label!

The only thing I'll add is that Weird will, based on my take on human nature, begin to fade in it's punch after enough repetition.

Here are some synonyms (or near somewhat related words) for weird that I've been thinking of using that might have a similar impact...

Strange
Odd
Oddball
Weirdo
Bizarre
Creepy (not my favorite, but...)
Eerie (not my favorite, but...)
Awful
Peculiar
Flaky
Mental
Psycho
Kookoo (or Cuckoo)
Screwy (thanks Bugs Bunny!)
Daft
Daffy
Batty
Foolish
Loco
Absurd
Nutty
Brainless
Dolt(ish)
Jerky
Loony
Half-baked
Inane
Vacuous
Childish
Inept
Awkward
Bungling

[Vivid Lizard]

22. Love the Thesaurus!

We may not have flying cars (I'm talking to you Year 2000), but we've got online references!

[relayerbob]

25. Fortunately, we only need 90 days

And most people don’t pay much attention until the end. But, having back-ups is always good.

[relayerbob]

24. Exactly. Calling them nazis, etc makes them feel powerful

Calling them weird emasculates them, makes them small and weak, and they know it. It’s a simple message that can be coupled with all sorts of imagery and text that would certainly be considered weird if your neighbor or co-worker was doing it. We all know they are dangerous, but again that excites them, they need to be dangerous, since otherwise they just faceless nobodies. Being weird, faceless nobodies strips them of their power, and makes people on the fence laugh at them.

Perfect strategy in my opinion.

[bucolic_frolic]

26. Weird creepy psycho works for me

stalking your government so he can kill it. A grand scale Jeffrey Dahmer.

[kenziemom06]

29. I kind of like this word

GROSS

GROSS & WEIRD

Sums it up!

[gab13by13]

31. Walz nailed him

When he said TSF froze during the pandemic and millions died.

[Doodley]

32. Weird should be used until election day. When the average American thinks of Trump, the word weird should be there too.