Dear John,
Based on the popularity of our UK election newsletter earlier this summer, weâve decided to dedicate just one day a week to analysing whatâs happening across the Atlantic. With Trump and the Heritage Foundationâs Project 2025 threatening to obliterate American democracy itself, the stakes couldnât be higher.
If this kind of thing is not for you, donât worry. You can opt out here.
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Does âWeirdâ Work?
With not far to go until election day, the Democrats have adopted a fresh candidate and a completely new messaging strategy. Kamala Harris has replaced Joe Biden as the prospective nominee in response to concerns about the Presidentâs age and mental acuity. So how has the changed the messaging?
Historically, Democrats have run on the idea of Trump being dangerous. President Joe Biden described the 2024 election as a âbattle for the soul of the nation,â emphasising Trumpâs right-wing extremism and presenting himself as the protector of American democracy.
Perhaps due to de-sensitisation and media fatigue, it wasnât resonating strongly with the American public. Perhaps it also empowered Trump in a certain way, making him appear to his base as this powerful strongman that struck fear in the heart of their liberal opponents.
Kamala Harris has shifted gears. In an all-out media assault this week, a myriad of Democratic politicians have been hammering the Republicans for being âstraight up weird.â Hereâs some examples:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Fox News on July 28th that former President Trump is âgetting older and strangerâ;
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chimed in on âXâ as well, writing: âBeing obsessed with repressing women is goofy. Trying to watch what LGBTQ+ people do all the time is abnormal. Punishing people who don't have biological offspring is creepy. Itâs an incel platform, dude. Itâs SUPER weird.â;
In a recent campaign email, Vice President Kamala Harris asked âIs Donald Trump OK?â and writing âTrump seems old and quite weird?â
Interestingly, Trump and his Vice-Presidential pick JD Vance (who has also undeniably said some very âweirdâ things) donât seem to have a response beyond âI know you are but what am I?â
"The whole thing is a con job. Just plain weird. You know who is plain weird? She is plain weird. She is a weird person,â Trump deflected on Fox News on Tuesday.
The former President also went on a racist tirade at the annual convention for the National Association of Black Journalists, questioning his opponentâs racial heritage in an apparent attempt to revive Obama-era Birtherism.
Perhaps the Democrats have landed on an effective messaging narrative for defeating the far-right here in Britain as well. Calling Nigel Farage âdangerousâ may only increase his allure to his supporters, but calling him âweirdâ cuts down the idea that heâs just a regular guy youâd like to share a pint with. No one sits next to the oddball at the pub.
Maybe one other reason âweirdâ works is that it undermines the US Rightâs core narrative â not unique to the US by any means â that theyâre the norm and everyone thinks like them (and if you disagree, itâs because youâre an extremist). Think about when Liz Truss famously said âBritain is full of secret Conservativesâ, or how Trump claims he speaks for the âsilent majority.â Being âweirdâ threatens the basis of their supposed legitimacy.
In other US Election News:
Kamala Harris now appears to be ahead of Trump according to several new polls, eliminating the lead he held over Joe Biden just several weeks ago;
In particular, women, young people, and minority groups have seen major polling spikes in the last week;
In the next week or so, a D.C. Judge will decide whether the case against Trump for election subversion can move forward, in the wake of the Supreme Courtâs âimmunityâ ruling earlier this year (which may render him un-prosecutable).
