Posted on October 23, 2024

Trump Hurls a String of Insults at Harris Including ‘Lazy,’ a Racist Trope Against Black People

Thomas Beaumont and Jill Colvin, Associated Press, October 22, 2024

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday hurled a series of personal attacks at Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her “lazy” — a word long used to demean Black people in racist terms — and repeatedly questioning her intelligence and stamina.

At an event in Miami aimed at courting Latino voters, he said Harris was “lazy as hell” for not holding a campaign event. Trump’s comments ignored that Harris spent her day in meetings in Washington and recording interviews with Telemundo and NBC. He referred to the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket as “slow” and having a “low IQ.”

Later in the day during a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, he called Harris a “stupid person” and went on to ask: “Does she drink? Is she on drugs?”

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He, however, implied that Harris, a onetime California attorney general and U.S. senator, became the Democratic nominee because of her race and gender.

“She’s running because they want to be politically correct,” Trump said.

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The former president has questioned the work ethic of various opponents throughout his career. He accused President Joe Biden in 2020 of campaigning from his basement, even as Trump continued to hold large events during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2016 routinely called Democrat Hillary Clinton physically weak and low-energy. He also accused both of being under the influence of drugs.

Trump has also engaged in questioning people’s racial backgrounds — including Harris’ — and racial dog whistles and overtly racist rhetoric have been fixtures of Trump’s public life.

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Using the term “lazy” to describe Harris, who is Black and of South Asian descent, evokes tropes that paint Black Americans as lazy, unsophisticated, submissive or inept.

Such stereotypes have been pervasive throughout American history. According to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the stereotypes had a purpose and “were used to help commodify black bodies and justify the business of slavery.”

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