Flattery was not a strategy Kamala Harris’ team might have expected from Donald Trump when the vice president took the Democratic mantle from Joe Biden.
Trump has never shied away from getting personal in his attacks on his political opponents. He called Hillary Clinton the “devil” with “hate in her heart” during the 2016 campaign, he insulted “sleepy” Joe Biden as “stupid” and a “low-IQ individual” and compared Nancy Pelosi to a “dog” and a “bed bug.”
His initial attempts to label Harris as “crazy” did little to derail the momentum the Democratic campaign has gained since the vice president took control.
ADVERTISEMENT
So, maybe Trump’s characteristically bizarre interview with Elon Musk on Monday evening marked a turning point in his campaign. Is Trump, the king of the put downs, going to try being nice? Or was the complement intended as some kind of sleight against TIME’s impartiality?
Melania Trump has kept a distance from her husband’s campaign, as she has for most of his political career. But she found herself being compared with Trump’s arch-nemesis in his discussion with Musk.
For Trump to compare Harris favorably with Melania one must assume that he was sincere even if he did call her a “terrible leader.”
After saying it was hard for him to imagine Harris meeting with China’s leader Xi Jinping–and Musk agreeing that it would be “silly” – Trump changed tack, saying he saw the TIME magazine cover of his opponent.
“I saw a picture of her on TIME Magazine today. She looks like the most beautiful actress ever to live,” he told Musk. “She looked very much like our great first lady, Melania.”
Maybe he had second thoughts about introducing his notoriously private wife into the debate and went on to misspeak Harris’ name as “Camilla,” an addition to his extensive mispronunciations of “Kamala.”
“Of course, she’s a beautiful woman and we’ll leave it at that,” Trump added, and Musk appeared happy to do exactly that.
It’s possible, of course, that the Trump-Vance ticket is taking note of the “joyous” nature of the Harris-Walz honeymoon campaign and intends to continue showering their rivals with compliments.
Or perhaps Melania will inform her husband that the 2024 presidential election contest is between him and Harris and to keep any other comparisons to himself.
