The tight presidential race between former President Trump and Vice President Harris is turning increasingly nasty, underscoring the deep divide in American politics and the highly personal stakes of the contest.
Trump, who has repeatedly toppled over norms and standards for political discourse, on Wednesday shared crude, sexist attacks on social media aimed at both Harris and his 2016 presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.
The Harris campaign did not respond to those specific attacks, but more broadly argued his social media posts, which included references to the QAnon conspiracy, were divisive and dangerous.
“Donald Trump is out of his mind. If a family member posted what Donald Trump is sharing, Americans would rightly be concerned,” Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer said in a statement. “But this is what Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda offer America: prosecuting political opponents, using dangerous conspiracy theories to justify harmful policies, and dividing Americans against each other.”
Trump’s posts on Truth Social are not particularly surprising given his history on social media, which has included a number of personal attacks that at times seemed shocking.
“Donald Trump is being Donald Trump,” said Peter Loge, a professor at George Washington University who has worked in Democratic politics. “This is who he was when he was a real estate developer. This is who he was on television. He’s made his name in his career through bombast, threats, lawsuits, just sort of over-the-topness.”
Democrats, for their part, have signaled they are not interested in the kind of approach typified by former first lady Michelle Obama’s call eight years ago of “when they go low, we go high.”
While the Harris campaign did not respond to Trump’s crude attacks, they have not held back from going after the former president.
Harris’s campaign has mocked Trump as weird, and Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-Pa.) campaign released a statement Wednesday accusing Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, of coming to Pennsylvania to spread “bats‑‑‑ takes.” It also derided Vance for an awkward visit to a Georgia doughnut shop.
Vance, seeking to hit Harris on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and respond to another sensitive fight over a Trump appearance at Arlington National Cemetery, said Wednesday during his Pennsylvania event that Harris could “go to hell.”
Each new presidential cycle seems to get meaner than the last, and 2024 may top them all.
“I think fans of the 2016 and 2020 election are going to be in for a real thrill this fall,” quipped Loge.
Trump has engaged in inflammatory rhetoric since bursting onto the political scene more than a decade ago. He spread conspiracy theories about former President Obama’s birthplace, brought women who had accused former President Clinton of misconduct to a 2016 campaign and in 2020 called for the Biden family to be investigated.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Harris’s intelligence, brought up the vice president’s appearance and questioned her biracial heritage.
But the past week has underscored just how bitter the political discourse has gotten amid a polarized electorate and a neck and neck race for the White House.
Trump got into hot water over his appearance at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to honor fallen soldiers when his staff clashed with a cemetery official.
On Wednesday, Trump shared several incendiary posts from other users on Truth Social. One depicted Harris, Hillary Clinton, President Biden and others in orange jumpsuits. Another proposed a military tribunal for former President Obama. And a third featured an image of Harris and Clinton with the message: “Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently…”
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt on Thursday argued voters were not concerned with Trump’s conduct on social media.
“Americans aren’t concerned with social media posts and silly memes. They are concerned with the problems that are plaguing them and their families right now,” Leavitt said on CNN, pivoting to attack Harris over her shifting views on fracking, immigration and policing.
The former president’s attacks come as the race for the White House has tightened since Harris replaced Biden atop the Democratic ticket. Where Trump was leading Biden nationally and in battleground state polling, Harris has overtaken Trump in national polling averages and has pulled even or slightly ahead in multiple swing states.
“He thought he had it in the bag running against Biden,” one former Trump White House official said. “But now that Harris is the nominee and she’s doing much better than he or his team expected, he’s threatened by that so this is him trying to regain control of the race.”
Trump has repeatedly waved away suggestions from his own advisers that he should lay off the personal attacks. The former president has indicated at recent campaign events he feels “entitled” to insulting his opponent, largely because of the attacks and legal cases he has faced.
“I have to get personal. They get personal, but I’m going to do my best,” Trump said at an Arizona rally last week. “So they’re allowed to get personal with me, but I’m not allowed to get personal to them?”
Democrats have gone after Trump on a personal level, but in much different ways. They have mocked him as “weird” and sought to portray him as selfish, an aspiring dictator and a nuisance.
Harris has made it a central part of her stump speech to tell voters she knows “Trump’s type” from her time as a prosecutor, referencing lawsuits he’s faced for fraud and sexual misconduct.
In her convention speech, Michelle Obama argued Trump doesn’t understand hard work and suggested he may be pursuing a “Black job,” a biting reference to the former president’s own comments about African American employment.
And former President Obama, in his convention speech, likened Trump to an annoying neighbor who wouldn’t stop running their leaf blower.
“On one hand, Trump is going to be Trump, and his rhetoric is often cruel and demeaning,” said Loge, the professor at George Washington University. “The Democrats I think are trying to be clever rather than cruel.”
