Trump Revives ‘Birtherism’ as Harris Gains in Polls

AFP/APP

Washington: Donald Trump is facing a fierce backlash for questioning the race of US election rival Kamala Harris. To those familiar with Trump’s history of inflammatory language and behavior, this smear is nothing new.

Trump’s political career was shaped by the “birther” conspiracy theory of the 2010s, which falsely claimed that then-President Barack Obama, who had a Kenyan father, was born abroad.

Critics point to numerous controversies involving Trump, including being sued in the 1970s for discrimination against Black tenants and his notorious support for white supremacist marchers in 2017.

On Wednesday, Trump’s worst tendencies resurfaced with his outrageous claim that Harris—the first female and non-white vice president—recently “became a Black person” for political convenience.

Harris, like an estimated 34 million Americans in the nation’s fastest-growing demographic, is mixed race and has consistently celebrated her Black and South Asian identity.

The attack has shifted media attention back to Trump, who had been overshadowed by Harris’s entry into the White House race. 

However, it has also highlighted Trump’s extensive record of racial transgressions. Veteran strategist Scott Jennings, a former aide to President George W. Bush, remarked, “He did crap the bed… The only question is whether he’s going to roll around in it or get up and change the sheets.”

‘Lion’s Den’

Trump’s inflammatory comments emerged during a heated exchange with African American journalists in Chicago. The 78-year-old, desperate to woo Black voters from Harris—who has erased his polling leads since entering the race—found himself in a controversial setting, given his history of denigrating Black female reporters. 

Jennings suggested Trump should move on from the scandal, but the former president has doubled down, sharing images of Harris celebrating her Indian origins as some sort of ill-conceived “gotcha.”

Keith Gaddie, a politics professor at Texas Christian University, believes Trump’s remarks are driven by a desire to reclaim the limelight, especially since his campaign was in disarray following an assassination attempt in July.

Gaddie views Trump’s confrontation with Black female journalists as an attempt to appeal to his white base. “He essentially decided to battle his opponent by proxy, by battling with Black female journalists,” Gaddie said.

‘No Sense of Decency’

Bill Kristol, chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle from 1989-93, argues that Trump’s goal is likely to revive old accusations of Harris being inauthentic after her shift to the political left during the 2020 primary campaign.

“Trump has no sense of decency. It would be nice if this were disqualifying for political success,” Kristol wrote in a newsletter for The Bulwark. “But decency doesn’t always prevail in this world of ours. Decency needs to be aggressively defended. Indecency needs to be exposed and denounced.”

Some observers view Trump’s racial remarks as part of a clever political strategy, while others see them as merely the outbursts of a bigot. Analysts are divided on whether these remarks are beneficial.

“Birtherism made him an avatar of populist conservatism in 2011 and his attacks on Mexicans and Muslims were crucial to his 2016 victories,” said Donald Nieman, a political analyst and professor at Binghamton University.

“They stoke the passion of the base, which is important. But they also alienate swing voters, as shown in 2018, 2020, and 2022.”

Political scientist Nicholas Creel of Georgia College and State University suggests that this scandal reveals Trump’s lack of self-control and narcissism.

“The best way to view this specific scandal is not as some sort of fifth-dimensional chess strategy but simply as an insensitive comment from a latently racist old man who thinks he can do no wrong.”