Senator John Kennedy took a few well-aimed jabs at Vice President Kamala Harris, humorously summing up the public’s general unease about her. Appearing on Fox News with Brian Kilmeade, Kennedy quipped that Harris seems to operate on “gauzy rhetoric,” leaving voters uncertain about her ability to step up as president. “They’re worried that she was that kid in grade school who ate paste,” Kennedy said, capturing the odd mix of uncertainty and disbelief many Americans feel toward Harris. He went on to joke that “if she walked by a polygraph machine, the dang thing would explode.” This clever quip hits a nerve for Democrats trying to sell Harris as credible leadership material.
Kennedy also noted that Harris has switched up her strategy. Instead of her usual cheerful messaging, she’s adopting Hillary Clinton’s infamous 2016 “deplorables” approach, casting Trump voters as somehow morally inferior. This strategy didn’t exactly work for Clinton, and it’s unlikely to do Harris any favors, given that her own image among voters is shaky at best. Instead of engaging with Americans genuinely, she’s resorting to scare tactics and divisive language—a strategy that backfired before and will likely backfire again.
Kennedy’s comments came as polls continue to show Harris struggling to win public trust. According to a YouGov poll in July, 54% of respondents think that the Biden administration isn’t being straight about Biden’s health, and a whopping 68% believe Harris plays a major role in keeping those details under wraps. Trump even called out Harris for claiming she worked at McDonald’s as a teenager, something her campaign has yet to verify. In a RealClearPolitics poll average, Trump maintains a narrow lead, with Harris lagging even further when other third-party candidates are factored in.
Harris has tried to walk back her more radical 2020 primary positions through her aides, but the American public isn’t buying it. Her attempts to pivot to the center are too little, too late. Harris’s plummeting approval ratings show that Americans want authentic, decisive leadership—not someone who thinks calling her opposition “bad people” is a winning strategy. While Harris shifts her stances and reshapes her narrative, Trump keeps gaining ground, appealing to voters who are fed up with being ignored or vilified by the Democrats. Unlike Harris, he doesn’t need to rebrand himself to earn support.
Senator John Kennedy exposed Kamala Harris’s hollow rhetoric and inability to connect with American voters, saying her rhetoric is so vague people “don’t know if she has the right stuff to be president.” Instead of engaging with the concerns of middle America, Harris has resorted to divisive language, labeling Trump voters as morally inferior. Trump, on the other hand, offers a clear alternative with straightforward leadership and doesn’t pander to the whims of the woke crowd. Harris’s shifting positions and avoidance of real issues only strengthen Trump’s appeal, showing that voters want authenticity and strength, not the latest rebranding scheme.