As the presidential race tightens in the final weeks leading up to Nov. 5, Trump’s grip on reality becomes increasingly looser. Many pundits predicted that he would become more unhinged as the race neared the end, and that’s certainly the case — particularly with respect to his attacks and accusations about women. Vice President Harris is unsurprisingly at the top of his list of insults and denigrations.
During a recent assembly of big spenders, Trump unleashed a rant on Harris, calling her “retarded,” a follow-up to his previous slur of “mentally impaired.” Some of the attacks on Harris may have been prompted by his insufficient fundraising, which daily shows a widening gap to Harris’s donor base.
It seems incongruous that a candidate not faring well with women voters, according to several polls, would repeatedly degrade them as he did recently with comedian and actress Whoopi Goldberg, calling her “filthy, dirty and disgusting.” Goldberg, never at a loss for words, retorted “you hired me four times.”
Trump received an equally tart response from Maine Gov. Janet Mills, after he referred to her as “he” and “him” during a rambling speech to supporters earlier this week. Mills delivered her response on X, writing that Trump “better get used to recognizing women. He’s about to get beat by one.”
Depending on your poll choice, Trump is up by a margin of error or trailing Harris by the same margin. If Trump is having his trouble with women, Harris is having hers with men, including Black men. And the acrimony has intensified lately with former President Barack Obama on the campaign trail for her, assailing Black men who, according to some polls, are not supporting her to the extent that Black women are. Some of his remarks harken back to his own campaign when he chastised young Black men, demanding they pull their pants up.
In a year of bizarre developments in this presidential race, we haven’t even exhausted October, and its usual critical surprises.