In a campaign rally held on Saturday in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attacked the popular Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp.
The only problem: Kemp is a Republican with 60 percent public approval and leads a dominant political machine in Georgia, one of the six states expected to define the presidential race. Worse yet, Trump lost there in 2020 by just twelve thousand votes out of more than five million cast.
Four years ago, Trump pressured state officials to change the voting results, leading to a pending trial. But attacks on Kemp do not help his image with a significant portion of Georgia Republicans. In his opinion, "He's a bad guy, he's a disloyal guy, and he's a very average governor," Trump said.
A few months, perhaps even weeks ago, this might not have mattered. But with the presidential race turned on its head after the Democrats replaced their original candidate, President Joe Biden, with Vice President Kamala Harris, what currently appear to be mistakes by Republican Donald Trump and their potential consequences are magnified.
Certainly, Harris's appearance galvanized the Democrats and injected them with new energy. According to U.S. political media, her entry into the race deeply altered Trump's propaganda strategy, which was based on attacks on Biden's age and weakness.
Initially, this is because Harris is a biracial woman, 59 years old, which automatically draws attention to Trump's 78 years.
But the confusion seemed greater in Trump's behavior, which so far ignored advice to attack on substantive issues like the economy or migration, which many American conservatives consider central, and returned to his old pattern of personal insults and speaking without filtering what he says.
This style has already reintroduced irritants with women and African-American and Latino communities, which he was courting with special attention and in which he seemed to be making progress. In fact, he claims that Harris, a former California attorney general, did not pass the bar exam and benefited from what conservatives derogatorily call the DEI principle, which stands for Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion.
In this context, one of the least desired moments for the Republican candidate's supporters could occur at any moment between now and November: when pop culture phenomenon Taylor Swift is expected to publicly endorse Democrat Harris.
The singer has already expressed support for women's rights and minorities, and it is believed that her endorsement could impact the young adult vote.
BY JOSÉ CARREÑO FIGUERAS
COLLABORATOR
JOSE.CARRENO@ELHERALDODEMEXICO.COM
@CARRENOJOSE1