By Ben Emos and Mary Jones | Thursday, September 12, 2024 | 4 min read
In politics, it’s always a smart move to double down on a blatantly dishonest claim that dehumanizes an entire group of people, while one of your key surrogates makes a creepy, sexist remark about a wildly popular pop star — like a divorced dad awkwardly hitting on someone younger.
Wait, no. That’s not right. That sounds like terrible political strategy.
Yet that’s exactly what Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign has been doing since he stumbled off the Philadelphia debate stage Tuesday night, having been decisively outperformed by Vice President Kamala Harris. Republicans are doubling down on Trump’s grotesque lie that immigrants are eating people’s pets, all while billionaire Trump super fan Elon Musk clumsily tries to grab Taylor Swift’s attention with a cringe-worthy display.
Harris’ widely praised debate performance was quickly followed by a high-profile endorsement from Taylor Swift, one of the most influential figures in America. Swift declared, “I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
She cheekily signed off as “Childless Cat Lady,” a subtle but pointed response to JD Vance’s past misogynistic remarks, giving a clever nod to her critics.
Things took a turn for the worse for Trump, and then Elon Musk made them even worse. For Trump, the combination of a poor debate performance and a high-profile endorsement from Taylor Swift was like losing a prize fight and then having a piano dropped on his head.
So, Musk, Trump’s billionaire ally, swooped in to “help” by posting on the massive social media platform he owns: “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”
Musk is 53 and Swift is 34, and while his bizarre comment might have seemed like a joke to him, it definitely missed the mark.
Does Swift’s endorsement matter? Absolutely. Taylor Swift endorsing Kamala Harris is a significant event, regardless of your perspective.
Swift’s endorsement was calm and respectful, unlike the usual Trump spectacle. She shared a thoughtful message, showing respect for differing opinions and encouraging people to research the candidates and make informed choices. In stark contrast, Musk’s response came across as: “HAH HAH I WILL PUT A BABY IN YOU IF YOU WANT, SILLY CAT LADY!!”
Musk’s crude post is a fitting symbol of how Trump’s reelection campaign has descended into a quagmire.
The lies about pets being eaten reflect the bizarre and grotesque nature of Trump’s campaign. Leading up to the debate, Trump and his allies pushed a repugnant and xenophobic myth that Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating people’s pets. This absurd claim, rooted in racist conspiracy theories, was quickly debunked by local officials in Ohio.
Yet, Trump, Musk, and others continued to circulate these harmful memes, aiming to demonize immigrants and scare people with baseless fears. Republicans, is this really what you want? Trump’s debate performance was already a disaster, and then he inexplicably revived the pet-eating nonsense.
During the debate, when Trump’s handlers likely hoped he would behave somewhat normally, he instead ranted about immigrants eating pets, sounding like a relative who should be kept away from family gatherings.
It was astonishing to witness a presidential candidate spouting such an outlandish and dehumanizing lie, something straight out of a “How to Be a Racist” guide. And in the aftermath, his running mate doubled down on the falsehood, telling CNN, “First of all, city officials have not said it’s not true. They said they don’t have all the evidence.”
This isn’t a sign of a campaign on the rise—quite the opposite. Persisting with ludicrous claims about pet-eating reveals a campaign in decline. No one is buying this nonsense, and it only serves to further damage their credibility and alienate potential supporters.
It’s hard to imagine how the Trump campaign could possibly top this debacle and Musk’s bizarre and creepy antics involving one of the most popular women in the world. Musk’s mother must be shaking her head in disbelief.
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