President Donald Trump made some disparaging remarks about Sen. Kamala Harris, who was chosen on Tuesday to be Joe Biden‘s running mate in the 2020 Presidential Election. It adds to the ever-growing list of political rivals (and, in some cases, allies) that he’s insulted since announcing his campaign back in 2015.
“She was my number one draft pick,” Trump told reporters, via Marketwatch. “She did very very poorly in the primaries, as you know,” referring to her dropping out back in December over a lack of funds. The president also falsely referred to Harris as “one of the most liberal” senators in office, adding that she’s a “big tax raiser” and a “slasher of funds for the military,” among other things. “I thought she was the meanest, most horrible, most disrespectful of anybody in the U.S. Senate,” he added, referring to her questioning of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. “I like Vice President Mike Pence much better. He’s solid as a rock.”
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The president also made some comments about Harris’ eligibility to hold office, not long after an op-ed published in Newsweek by Republican lawyer John C. Eastman, which baselessly claimed Harris might not be eligible to be vice president. Trump, of course, didn’t criticize or deny the claims, instead choosing to call Eastman “a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer” on Thursday. “So I just heard that,” Trump continued. “I heard it today. That she doesn’t meet the requirements and by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer. I have no idea if that’s right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president.”
Trump had also called Eastman’s claims “very serious,” despite the fact that Harris was born in Oakland, California. However, he didn’t go as far as he did when he claimed former President Barack Obama couldn’t be president because he wasn’t born in the United States, giving prominence to the “birther” movement. Though him bringing up Harris’ eligibility in the first place was questionable.
Trump had also taken to referring to Harris as “nasty,” an insult he’d previously reserved to his 2016 election opponent, Hilary Clinton. Harris joins Clinton, along with numerous other women, who the president has routinely attacked. This includes Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Even Trump’s fellow Republicans haven’t evaded his wrath, including former Republican primary opponent Carly Fiorina and Heidi Cruz, the wife of Sen. Ted Cruz.
