Bess Levin at Vanity Fair examines Trump’s claim that he isn’t worried about Kamala Harris:
As The New York Times notes, “The crowds at Ms. Harris’s events, including one in Detroit outside an airplane hangar, were witnessed by thousands of people and news outlets…and the number of attendees claimed by her campaign is in line with what was visible on the ground.”
Beyond the fact that Trump’s claims are simply not true—nothing new there—his posts give off strong vibes of a guy who is figuratively, and perhaps even literally, s–tting his pants over competing with Harris, hence the call for her to be “disqualified.” If he thought he was going to sail to victory, he’d be happy to go up against her, just like he was happy to face Joe Biden.
Even before his ridiculous claims of “A.I.’d” crowds, Trump’s panic over Harris was extremely evident. On Thursday, amidst a fact-free press conference, he insulted the vice president’s intelligence numerous times, falsely claiming she couldn’t pass the bar and calling her “barely competent” and “not as smart” as Biden. Then, on Saturday, the Times reported that since Harris’s move to the top of the ticket, Trump had:
- Attacked a major donor in text messages sent by an aide on his behalf
- Doubled down on his claim, at an event for donors, that the VP had only recently decided to be Black
- Told said donors, who had asked about the upcoming election, “We’ve got to stop the steal”—a revival of his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen
- Repeatedly called Harris a “bitch” in private (which a spokesperson unsurprisingly denied)
Not exactly the actions of a guy who is confident he’s got the election in the bag.
