Erick-Woods Erickson
2024 began as a referendum between two deeply disliked men, one of whom is an incumbent with a bad economy and his predecessor who had a great economy until a global pandemic undid it. 2024 is ending with everyone remembering they hate Trump and not knowing who Kamala Harris is. Trump can still win it, but he seems intent on reminding people they do not like him while ignoring Harris’s record. His latest comment won’t cost him the election. They will just keep him from gaining ground and rebuilding momentum less than 100 days before the election.
This week at the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump confronted hostile questions and pushed back. The reporters, increasing enemies to anyone not on the left, do not matter. Trump, however, decided to double down on Kamala Harris not being a black American. After the event, at a rally, he put on a screen that Harris claimed to be the first Indian American in the Senate. So?
Harris’s mother is an Indian immigrant. Harris’s father descends from a family of slave owners in Jamaica who themselves were black. But all of that is a distraction. Trump loves to get distracted by distractions. Those distractions play well with his base, but not to anyone else. Every second spent arguing over just how black Kamala Harris is is a wasted opportunity not focused on Harris’s record, her rush away from her former positions, the border situation she oversaw, the Afghan withdrawal, her coverup of Joe Biden’s mental decline, etc. There are less than one hundred days until the election and Trump may just lack the discipline to focus.
As an aside, the “Is Harris really one of us?” conversation is already happening in the black community. But having a white guy like Trump join the chat undermines that conversation, its organic nature, and the black community’s willingness to navigate it. Like accusing her of being a DEI candidate, it will make people defensive instead of letting them think about it themselves.
As an aside to that aside, y’all, I am so white that if I wear white socks they disappear. But do any of the people around Trump have black friends? Because I do and we have these conversations and I have a ton of black listeners who call in to my show and have these conversations. So I know what I’m talking about on this front not by virtue of my whiteness but by virtue of my willingness to listen to a lot of black voices around me who are across the political spectrum from those who call my show to those who sit on my porch.
The concern, of course, is that if Trump craters, he can also hand the House of Representatives to the Democrats and help the Democrats keep the Senate. Senate Democrats are increasingly vocal that they want to abandon the filibuster, which would allow unchecked opportunities to progressively transform America. The election is bigger than Trump, but explaining that to Trump is an impossible task.
For a month, Trump showed remarkable discipline. As Joe Biden cratered after the debate and Democrats panicked, Trump kept his mouth shut. Democrats stewed. When Trump spoke during that time, he stayed focused. After getting shot, Trump even let the Democrats descend into crazy conspiracy land over whether or not he got shot. He let the madness play out on the left.
Then, he snapped out of the discipline. On impulse and pressure from his son, he picked J.D. Vance, not the strongest possible pick for Vice President. Then he gave a long, rambling, and undisciplined speech at the Republican National Committee that many Americans gave up on and tuned out before it was over. Once the Democrats turned to Harris, Trump was fully back to a campaign with no real message. Given the choice between a man they know they hate and a woman they don’t know, Americans will go with the unknown. So make Harris known and do it quickly.
Remarkably, Democrats have been able to define Vance faster than the GOP can define Harris. There is no use screaming about how unfair the media is. They always have been unfair bootlickers, and even in their unfairness and participation in a coverup of Biden’s mental decline, Trump was beating Biden.
Trump can still win—he just might still win. His path to victory is still more expansive than Harris’s. The polling, for now, is back where it was before the June debate. The vice presidential pick will fade in consequence. But there are less than one hundred days. Every aspect of the campaign needs to be disciplined and polished, but the Republicans seem to have been completely surprised by a Harris swap that every Republican predicted in February. This comment will not cost Trump the election. It just keeps Trump from putting further distance from him and Harris.
Harry Sisson is a progressive TikTok influencer. Until the moment Biden got out, Sisson insisted there was nothing wrong, and everyone he knew would be voting for Biden. In the face of disaster, Sisson has insisted the light at the end of the tunnel was the sun, not the fast-approaching train that would run over Biden. Too many Trump supporters are becoming like Sisson. Yes, Trump can win. But not everything he does is helpful. Doubling down on Harris’s race instead of her record is a boneheaded move the Harry Sisson’s of the right might savor, but everyone else knows is a distraction with a ticking clock counting down to early voting.
So maybe, just maybe, get Harris on record about the Biden-Harris Administration cutting a deal with the mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and move on from whether or not she’s black enough.
