As much of the United States breathed a sigh of relief after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Republicans incoherently fumbled the ball in adapting their messaging to the new Democratic front-runner Vice President Kamala Harris. Their chosen narrative – as seen across all conservative media – is lackluster and resorts to blatant racism and misogynoir.
Conservative audiences, loyally salivating for the reactions from their favorite bigots on cable news so they could adopt some rhetorical gotchas to use on social media, were left with nothing but prejudice and intolerance to spread across all corners of the internet. This has been evident regardless of which platform people use to connect with others or follow the news.
In fairness, almost every news media outlet was caught off guard by the collective sigh and ensuing excitement around Harris. The coverage of the Black women turnout followed by Black men showing up alongside broad Latino support in just the first 48 hours was telling. It’s a level of support the Biden administration could only dream of and little has been said about the extent of the mobilization for Kamala Harris.
From broad coalitions of nonwhite groups to white people turning out in huge numbers in recent days, the news media has instead focused on Trumpers as if there’s a chance any would vote for Harris. It’s an interesting way to cover the huge news of Biden dropping out and Harris taking the lead, that much is certain. But because of this, they’re missing the bigger story.
Conservative media employing racist tropes and doing everything but don Klan hoods on the air are inadvertently helping drive momentum for the Vice President. From Fox News and Breitbart to conservative podcasters and so-called “influencers,” all ignored what was happening outside of their bubbles and went with age-old and very Klannish racist tropes.
What Republicans are missing is that many non-conservative voters – which include not just their liberals-are-the-enemy strawman but independents and everyone in between – were concerned about Biden’s candidacy. Yes, his age was a huge factor in those concerns. Many people are afraid to admit it out of fear of being labeled ageist, however, some truths are truly self-evident. Cognitive and physical decline as we age are just two of those.
None of us can speak to Biden’s day-to-day condition unless we’re close enough to him to witness it ourselves but media appearances after the debate with former president Donald Trump created a collective mild anxiety that you can almost feel. The palpable fear that Biden would slip up, say something wild, or fail to respond to a question accordingly was evident.
Whether you felt this way or not, we can’t deny that many others did. We also can’t deny that those concerns translate into concerns about winning the presidential election alongside putting down-ballot candidates at risk. Those doubts disappeared when Biden decided to step aside and pass the proverbial torch to Harris. Excitement over Harris was almost instantaneous.
Anecdotally, the vast majority of voters within my proximity both online and in the real world who supported Biden for president say they now support Harris. Very few said they wouldn’t. Another aspect of all of this is the approval of many who didn’t support Biden but now support and welcome a Harris nomination. Acceptance for Harris comes from a broadly diverse coalition of supporters and it’s a story that should be getting much more attention.
We will undoubtedly see more polls that provide deeper insight than the overall approval ratings we have seen so far. However, early indicators suggest that those polls will show Trump lose points to Harris across broad sets of racial, ethnic, and political boundaries. Recent polling that shows Black support for Trump at zero in Michigan and dropping nationally provides us with a little insight into what’s to come for the Trump camp.
Tangible fears of policies like those outlined in Project 2025, Trump’s Agenda 47, or those held by other organizations such as the MAGA-inspired Conservative Partnership Institute alongside the uber-wealthy billionaires that are funding Trump’s campaign culminate into what looks like a political disaster for Trump’s reelection bid.
If the momentum for Kamala Harris continues, Trump’s demise is all but assured.
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