President Joe Biden’s ditched election bid has gone viral in China, where online consensus is veering toward former President Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric.
Initial reactions from Chinese pundits have dismissed Vice President Kamala Harris — endorsed by Biden as the heir apparent to the Democratic nomination — as fielding an even lower chance of winning the White House than her former running mate.
Trump, now the official Republican nominee, takes the same line and said on Sunday that Harris would be “easier to beat than Joe Biden would have been.”
China’s heavily moderated social media is no true indicator of its foreign policy, but such discussions provide a glimpse at what rhetoric the authorities allow to survive and thrive.
“Trump has basically secured the presidency, there’s no need for others to continue the act. It’s awkward and not even entertaining,” wrote one blogger based in Gansu.
“The Democratic Party’s chaotic replacement of generals is like the medicine of Wu Dalang,” wrote another blogger, referring to a famous Chinese tale of a man who survived poisoning but was still suffocated to death by his wife. “You will die whether you take it or not.”
On Weibo, China’s version of X, commenters on state media reports about Biden’s endorsement of Harris kept asking the same question: “Who is she?”
Harris, despite having met Chinese leader Xi Jinping at an APEC forum in Bangkok, has a far smaller presence on China’s social media than Biden or his state secretary, Antony Blinken.
She’s been the main subject of two viral topics on Weibo. One received 190 million views in 2021, when she spoke of wars that may soon be “fought over water.” The other received 140 million views in 2020, when her husband, Doug Emhoff, resigned from his law firm to support Harris’ vice presidential bid.
Meanwhile, Blinken — the Biden administration’s point man on China — has been the center of over a dozen viral topics since 2021, some ranging up to nearly 800 million views, per data seen by Business Insider.
As for Trump, the former president is often the subject of memes in China, mocking him as a secret agent for Beijing.
But the recent failed assassination against him— and the viral photos of the attempt — has galvanized Weibo’s masses into believing he presents too strong of a campaign to lose in November.
Trump has intensified his attacks on Harris since rumors emerged that Biden may step down, using the nickname “Laffin’ Kamala” in a bid to disparage the way she laughs as a detriment to her leadership.
Montages of Harris laughing on camera have also surfaced in China, though most are not derogatory. Some are praising her for having a “contagious laugh and smile.”
Coincidentally, Harris’ name, translated to Chinese, starts with the same character as the word “laugh.”
The Democratic Party’s deadline to select its nominee is during its national convention on August 19 to 22, and Harris has quickly been securing the heavyweight support she needs to clinch the position.
Despite the predictions from Trump and China, a FiveThirtyEight round-up of the latest polls shows that Harris’ performance with voters differs from Biden’s by only a small margin — typically by one or two percentage points at most. At times, she fares better than the president.
Most July polls put either Democratic leader behind Trump, though typically by a slim disadvantage of one to five percentage points.
The press team for the Biden-Harris ticket did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.
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