Kamala Harris and the MAGA Meltdown

And just when you thought MAGA couldn't sink any lower...

Robert Leonard

Jul 26, 2024

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Then Senator Kamala Harris talks with Matt Russell of Coyote Run Farm in Marion County in August 2019 before the Iowa Caucuses.

(paid subscribers will find a link to this Friday’s Office Lounge at noon at the bottom of this post)

Democrats are united

Unless you have been living under a rock or just waking up from a coma, you know that Vice President Kamala Harris is the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.

It happened at Mach speed. Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race on Sunday afternoon, and Harris had the nomination locked up the next day, after Biden’s endorsement, and her potential rivals fell in line.

I first wrote that President Joe Biden should step aside nearly a month ago after his debate with Donald Trump and that Vice President Harris should be the Democratic nominee on July 5.

I wrote that if she were the nominee, young people would be energized, as would minority groups. Independents would shift toward competency and away from the Republican wrecking ball.

While I’m not sure about independents, my statement that young people and minority groups would be energized may qualify as the understatement of the year. Harris raised a record $81 million in 24 hours and $126 million as of Wednesday and support is coming in from all over the progressive world. And this is before the “big donors” weigh in.

Marion County Democrats I speak with have gone from despair to joy overnight. I haven’t felt this much optimism since Obama came through town during his first presidential run before winning the Iowa caucuses.

A friend who is an Iowa delegate to the National Democratic Convention tells me that before Biden withdrew, there was considerable division in the party among the delegates. On Monday the delegation unanimously endorsed Harris, and he tells me that all the division is gone as they unite behind Harris.

Republicans knocked on their asses

Republicans immediately expressed shock at the change of candidates and started melting down about it.

Brian Taylor Cohen nails it. Apparently, MAGA doesn’t like women laughing, and Sean Hannity thinks Harris is going to take away his plastic straws. But this is benign in comparison to what else they have to offer.

How racist and sexist is it possible for MAGA to be? (warning—vulgar and offensive MAGA behavior below)

Talking Points Memo has a guide, so that’s a good place to start.

As to how sexist and racist MAGA can be, I was stunned when I saw the Fox Business clip below.

Mediaite has the story:

Following President Joe Biden’s catastrophic debate performance, pundit Alec Lace joined Fox Business on July 5 to discuss the outlook of the Democratic Party. In response to some predicting that Harris would step in to run against Trump in the 2024 race — which ended up being the case two weeks later — Lace inexplicably claimed that Harris got to her position by giving sexual favors.

“And then there’s the DEI press secretary telling you that the DEI vice president is the future of a party here,” Lace said, “so the future looks kind of dim for the Democrats here; but this is no shocker either. Kamala Harris, she’s the original ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl. That’s the way she got where she is; and the party’s going downhill if it’s in her hands.”

“Hawk Tuah girl” is a reference to 22-year-old Hailey Welch, a woman who went viral for a video using the phrase to describe oral sex. Lace received little pushback for his shocking comments on air, with host Dagen McDowell simply responding, “That was tough. That was harsh,” before moving on. Another Fox host on the panel, Sean Duffy, chuckled at the remark.

Although the comments were clearly sexist and completely baseless, Lace seemed to be proud of them as he’s reposted the clip multiple times since Harris announced her intention to run for president.

The Madonna/Whore complex

The depiction of women as either Madonnas or “whores” is how many men work to control the sexuality of women.

Feminist theory asserts that the male-written culture perpetuates patriarchal norms by controlling women's sexual autonomy through shaming, reinforcing gender stereotypes, and allowing men to maintain power.

MAGA men (including the “incels,” who are self-declared “involuntarily celibate,” and surely deservedly so) have no rationale to deny women the power they have earned, so they result to name-calling.

White “Christian” Nationalists have been calling Harris a Jezebel for years. Jezebel is a biblical character who has become shorthand for an amoral, wantonly sexual woman.

The New Republic lays out how this is an incitement to violence.

Jessica Johnson, an assistant professor of religious studies at the College of William & Mary who has researched Christian nationalism, spoke at length to The Washington Post at the time about what it meant to cast Harris as a Jezebel, and the violent connotations of this kind of rhetoric. “The Christian nationalist movement shares many of the same beliefs as the white nationalists, including an attachment to an ‘authoritarian father figure’ running the country, Johnson explained. Calling Harris a Jezebel foments their worst fears: that they will be replaced; that their fate is in the hands of a godless, amoral Black woman,” the paper reported. Johnson said to call Harris a Jezebel is “an incitement to violence.”

The above sign is on Highway 92 between Sigourney and Washington in eastern Iowa. I drive by it once a month or so for trips to Washington and Iowa City. Each time I see it I feel irritated and angry (and can’t imagine how people explain this sign to their children as they pass). Also helpless, because there was nothing I could do about it, until now. Now I can do my best to help make Kamala Harris the President of the United States. So can you.

The toxicity of JD Vance

Republican Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance is undergoing a self-induced implosion. Check out fellow Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member Julie Gammack’s take on Vance’s statement that Democrats are a "bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives".

The Marsh Family video above is a brilliant takedown of Vance. Enjoy.

Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture