Kamala Harris called Republican rival Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance “weird” Saturday at her first fundraiser since taking over the 2024 race from Joe Biden.
Harris made the comment in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where a rapturous audience made clear their support for the presumptive 2024 Democratic nominee. Singer James Taylor introduced Harris, while the event is expected to draw in as much as $1.4 million, according to Bloomberg.
“We are the underdogs in this race,” Harris said, echoing what former president Barack Obama had said when endorsing her. “We have our work cut out for us. And this is not going to be easy.”
While Harris did not mention specific comments by Trump and Vance, the pair have ramped up their attacks against Harris in the last week. At a campaign rally on Saturday night, Trump went all in, saying he “couldn’t care less” about how to pronounce her name while calling her a “bum” vice president and “low IQ.”
Harris took the opportunity at the fundraiser to reference her opponents, offering her blunt view on the subject.
“You may have noticed Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record and some of what he and his running mate are saying… Well, it’s just plain weird,” Harris said.
“I mean that’s the box you put that in,” she added, according to The Hill’s Alex Gangitano.
Comments from 2021 in which Vance criticized “childless cat ladies,” have also gone viral this week, receiving criticism in return from the likes of Jennifer Aniston. At the time, Vance said the U.S. is run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made… It’s just a basic fact—you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC—the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.”
Vance doubled down on the comments in an interview with conservative media personality Megyn Kelly on her Sirius XM show Friday. “Obviously it was a sarcastic comment. People are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said,” Vance said. “The substance of what I said, Megyn–I’m sorry, it’s true.”
The specific use of the word “weird” appears to be a deliberate move. It has appeared more than once in recent days, including describing Trump as “old and quite weird” after an appearance on Fox News on Thursday.
The Harris campaign also lashed out at Trump after the former president labelled Harris “low IQ” and “radical” at his own appearance Saturday at a cryptocurrency conference in Nashville,. “Trump, who thought injecting bleach would cure COVID, calls Kamala Harris ‘a low IQ individual,’” the campaign shot back. Trump’s comments alleging Harris “has no talent” and is a “failure,” also had the campaign responding on X. “Kamala Harris is a historically accomplished Vice President while Trump is a jobless convicted felon.”
Second Gentleman Emhoff also jumped on the bandwagon, offering Trump a response after the former president’s mispronunciation comments.
“Mr. Trump, I know you have so much trouble pronouncing Kamala Harris’ name. Here’s the good news. After the election, you can just call her Madam President,” he said, to rapturous applause.
The Harris campaign released a statement Saturday condemning Trump’s ominous comments Saturday surrounding future voting should he become president, assuring voters “it will be fixed.”
“When Vice President Harris says this election is about freedom she means it,” the statement says. “Our democracy is under assault by criminal Donald Trump: After the last election Trump lost, he sent a mob to overturn the results. This campaign, he has promised violence if he loses, the end of our elections if he wins, and the termination of the Constitution to empower him to be a dictator to enact his dangerous Project 2025 agenda on America.”
The statement concluded, “Donald Trump wants to take America backward, to a politics of hate, chaos and fear–this November America will unite Vice President Kamala Harris to stop him.”
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