It’s pretty obvious that the right is following the Russian playbook (or is it the other way around?) thinking it can win by splitting the Democrats. They are a little confused at the moment with Kamal Harris, trying to say that she’s a far-left liberal while at the same time claiming that she isn’t really black so it’s unclear exactly how they think this is going to work.
We know it didn’t work with Obama. Recall that in 2007 when he announced his run for the presidency this came up:
[I]t’s clear that Obama’s racial identity gives pause to some. He is not the descendant of African slaves, but is the son of a white mother and a Kenyan father, so he alone gets questions about just who he is.
“My black activist friends from here to Boston say that you are not black, you are multiracial, and I want to know how you self-identify?” he was asked at a recent event.
Obama replies: “I self-identify as African American – that’s how I’m treated and that’s how I’m viewed. I’m proud of it.”
Obama was hugely popular with the black community who all, obviously, did see him as one of their own. Many Black Americans have a mixed race heritage, going all the way back to slave days and more recently as a result of the culture being much more accepting of interracial relationships. I would imagine there is still some discussion of all this in the black community which is, of course, fine. But as an electoral issue, it’s not particularly potent.
Never ones to fail to misunderstand the electorate, Trump’s GOP thinks it’s being cute by questioning Harris’s Black bona fides in exactly the same way (as if they have any standing to question it or even pretend like it matters to them.) Apparently, they believe they can get African Americans to vote for Trump by saying that this Black woman isn’t really black. I don’t think it’s going to work.
Harris’s father was Jamaican and her mother is Indian. They were both professors and civil right activists in California. Harris herself went to Howard University and has identified as Black her whole life. But these right-wingers are actually saying that because Harris’s father had a white ancestor he isn’t really Black! Seriously!
This thead from Mary Beth Williams is very informative on Jamaica’s racial history. Kamala Harris is Black and she is Indian-American, she is the child of immigrants and she is an educated, accomplished woman. She is the future of America.
The right can try to divide on this, but I doubt it will work. They are living in the past.
Update: More ratfucking from the Trump campaign:
President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, met privately last weekend with Kanye West, the rapper who has filed petitions to get on the November ballots for president in several states.
The meeting took place in Colorado, where Mr. Kushner was traveling with his wife, Ivanka Trump, those familiar with the meeting said. Mr. West had been camping in Colorado with his family, and afterward flew to Telluride to meet with Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump, but was not accompanied by his wife, Kim Kardashian West, those with knowledge of the meeting said.
After an inquiry, Mr. West tweeted Tuesday evening: “I’m willing to do a live interview with the New York Time about my meeting with Jared,” adding that they had discussed a book about Black empowerment called “PowerNomics.” He did not elaborate on his meeting with Mr. Kushner in a brief follow-up interview. He instead expressed anger about abortion rates among Black women and said he didn’t reflexively support Democrats.
A White House spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The meeting came at a notable time. Mr. West recently criticized Joseph R. Biden Jr. in an interview with Forbes. He did not deny that he is acting as a spoiler to damage the Biden campaign with his effort to get on several ballots in states like Colorado, where he will appear. It’s less clear that his name will be on the ballot in Wisconsin, where his signature petitions are being challenged.