Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, referring to her as “lazy,” a term often historically used in a derogatory way against Black individuals. During a campaign event in Doral, Florida, aimed at Latino voters, Trump questioned why Harris was not actively campaigning with only two weeks left before the election, saying, “Who takes time off with just 14 days to go? She’s lazy, plain and simple.”
Harris spent that day in meetings in Washington, D.C., and participated in pre-recorded interviews with Telemundo and NBC, which aired later in the evening. It marked her first day without public events in over two weeks, after a stretch of traveling through key states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
‘Harris lacks competence’
Throughout his campaign, Trump has frequently portrayed Harris as lacking in competence, calling her “slow” and suggesting she has a “low IQ.” The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to these comments, though spokesperson Ian Sams highlighted that Trump had canceled a town hall event earlier that same day with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard, before heading to his rally in North Carolina. Sams took to social media to point out Trump’s own recent pattern of event cancellations, adding a sarcastic comment about the scrapped town hall.
Trump has a history of questioning the work ethic of his political rivals. In 2020, he accused President Joe Biden of running his campaign from his basement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, in 2016, he frequently described Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as physically weak and low-energy.
Trump invoking racial themes
In addition to questioning opponents’ energy and dedication, Trump has repeatedly invoked racial themes in his rhetoric, including in his attacks on Harris. This has been a recurring element in his public persona. For example, the federal government sued Trump in the 1970s for allegedly discriminating against Black tenants. In the 1980s, Trump took out a full-page ad in the New York Times advocating for the death penalty after five Black and Latino teenagers were accused of attacking a woman in Central Park, though their convictions were later vacated when another person admitted to the crime.
By calling Harris “lazy,” Trump taps into a longstanding racial stereotype that has historically portrayed Black people as lazy, incompetent, and untrustworthy. Such stereotypes, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, were used to dehumanize and justify slavery.
Despite these harmful stereotypes, Black Americans have made significant economic progress, especially through the Great Migration, when millions of African Americans moved northward for better job opportunities, and later through the development of a Black middle class after the civil rights advances of the 1960s. However, a substantial wealth gap between Black and white Americans persists due to enduring systemic barriers.
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