Donald Trump Can’t Figure Out How To Attack Kamala
Donald Trump is known for giving his political rivals catchy nicknames, but he seems to be struggling to find the perfect one for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Initially, the former president rarely talked about Harris. However, after President Joe Biden’s poor debate showing, Trump decided to target her as well. He first tried calling her “Laffin’ Kamala,” then switched to “Lyin’ Kamala,” and later used “Crazy Kamala.” Along the way, he also made frequent misspellings of her name.
In recent days, he has stopped using those particular nicknames, though he still uses them for other rivals.
Demeaning nicknames have been central to Trump’s political strategy since he first entered politics. He uses them to belittle his opponents and energize his supporters. However, he has struggled to adapt this tactic against Harris, even as he continues with personal attacks.
“What you’re seeing now is a sense of panic. With around 80 days left, he doesn’t have time to come up with a new strategy. So he’s relying on his old tactics to try and throw her off,” said Michael Starr Hopkins, a Democratic strategist. “But at this point, people have seen it so often that it no longer has the same impact.”
Trump has a long history of using nicknames for his political opponents. He called his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary,” a nickname he also attempted to use against Biden, and has recently redirected towards Harris. He has also used derogatory names for his Republican opponents, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in this year’s GOP presidential primary.
Throughout most of Kamala Harris’s tenure as vice president, Trump rarely mentioned her in speeches or on social media. There were no direct clashes, and she did not receive one of his infamous nicknames.
However, after a shaky debate performance by Biden and growing calls for a new Democratic nominee, Trump introduced the nickname “Laffin’ Kamala.” This moniker echoed conservative efforts to discredit Harris by sharing videos of her laughing.
A Trump campaign fundraising email even had the subject line, “Hello Laffin’ Kamala… BYE BYE BIDEN!” on the day Biden dropped out.
Trump soon discarded “Laffin’ Kamala” in favor of “Lyin’ Kamala,” a nickname he had previously used for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). But this, too, was short-lived. After using “Lyin’ Kamala” five times during a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 24 and four more times on Truth Social the next day, Trump abandoned it as well.
A few days later, he picked up “Crazy Kamala,” cribbing the adjective he has also used for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), among others. He stuck with that moniker for Harris for the longest, although he has backed off in recent days. He also tried “Kamabla” and “Crazy Kamabla” a few times.
Trump most frequently refers to her just as “Kamala,” without a nickname. In recent news conferences, he has pronounced her name correctly, although at rallies he has thrown out several different pronunciations or joked about how to pronounce it. At an event in south Florida last month, he said he “couldn’t care less” whether he said it correctly.
Of course, Trump still criticizes Harris plenty. He has derided her as the “border czar” — a line of attack frequently used by Republicans, and a label she and Democrats say inaccurately characterizes her role in addressing immigration. And he frequently describes her as “dangerously liberal” or derisively references the city of San Francisco, where she served as district attorney.
However, the nicknames Trump prefers for Harris are distinct from those he uses for Biden, highlighting the different ways he targets each of them.
At a recent rally in Bozeman, Montana, Trump briefly referred to Harris as “Crazy Kamala,” promising to “evict” her. This was a minor mention compared to his extended commentary on which nickname suits Biden better.
“Doesn’t matter anymore, but what do you like better: Crooked Joe or Sleepy Joe?” Trump asked his supporters. “Sleepy Joe, Crooked Joe. OK, ready? They’re both correct. I think Crooked Joe is more correct to say.”
Trump’s difficulty in settling on a nickname for Harris reflects the significant impact of Biden’s withdrawal from the race. While Trump has had years to come up with nicknames for Biden, he has only faced Harris for a few weeks.
In a recent Truth Social post, Trump used nicknames for Biden and Pelosi but omitted Harris. “Kamala Harris wants NOTHING TO DO WITH CROOKED JOE BIDEN,” he wrote. “They are throwing him out on the Monday Night Stage, known as Death Valley. He now HATES Obama and Crazy Nancy more than he hates me!”
Trump’s campaign has referred to Harris as “Crooked Kamala” in fundraising emails since Biden dropped out, mirroring the language he used for Biden and Clinton. However, Trump has not publicly or on Truth Social called her that name.
When Trump first coined the nickname for Clinton, it was shocking, according to Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist and co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project. Regardless of how he labels Harris, Madrid believes the impact won’t be the same.
“He was humiliating and debasing his opponents in a way that was unconventional for American politics,” Madrid said. “Now, eight years later, the fact that he’s dragged us down to that low level of discourse makes the attack ineffective anyway.”