MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski rebuked the first wave of Republican attacks on Kamala Harris as she consolidates support as the Democratic presidential nominee.
The vice president quickly clinched the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden stepped aside and endorsed her, and the "Morning Joe" hosts agreed the initial GOP response to Harris ascending to the top of the 2024 ticket was rude, wobbly and at least a little bit racist.
"I think this is going to be a real challenge, maybe not, as some people are so mean," Brzezinski said. "They can't see beyond themselves, but to run against Kamala Harris, who is accomplished, who is a Black woman, I think they're going to bump into walls, let's put it that way, along the way, as they try to run against her. The Republicans, the right-wing media, I was watching some yesterday, making fun of her voice. I mean, we're talking middle school stuff – it's not a good look."
"I don't know how people respond to this, but they seem to be grasping," she added. "That is actually what this change has created in terms of a dynamic now of a race between Donald J. Trump and Kamala Harris. It is complicated."
Republicans still seem caught off-guard by Biden dropping out and the party swiftly coalescing around the vice president, said New York Times columnist Mara Gay.
"You know, I guess in not quite knowing what the line of attack should be, the Republicans in 2024, their first instinct is just to be racist and sexist," Gay said.
"I guess that's, like, a tic that they've developed at this point. You know, the problem for J.D. Vance and for the Trump campaign is that anybody who, any voter who is going to be responding to that by voting for them was probably not going to vote for the Democrats anyway. So what they're actually doing is they are motivating every Democratic voter, every fence sitter, every independent voter, and people who are just disgusted with racism and sexism and want a multiracial democracy to continue to the polls."
Vance claimed that Harris didn't extend "a sense of gratitude" for her country, which Gay called out as a clear example of racism.
"All that is is a dog whistle, calling her uppity," she said. "Every black voter in America knows that. This is really not helping his case, but I guess that's just their go-to line. When all else fails, just try racism."
Scarborough noted the irony in Vance questioning Harris' appreciation for the nation she hopes to lead when his own running mate constantly derided the nation he led for four years.
"How rich, coming from a guy who is on a ticket that is constantly bashing the U.S.A., that's constantly said the American dream is dead, that's constantly said that the men and women that are in the United States armed services are weak and woke, when they are stronger than they've ever been relative to the rest of the world," Scarborough said. "How ironic that you've got a guy that actually is part of a ticket – and look at their words, not mine, look at their words – that's done nothing but tear down the United States of America."
"Donald Trump inherited $400 million from his daddy – like, talk about a silver spoon," Scarborough added. "He's been given everything anybody can be given in this country. All he does is trash it, all he does is say that this is a horrible country. He says this is a weak country, a terrible country, and only he can save it."
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Trump must already be questioning his decision just last week to anoint Vance as his running mate now that he's not running against Biden, Scarborough said.
"This was the problem with J.D. Vance as a vice presidential pick," he said. "I think they already know it now. The problem is, they had all those voters after Charlottesville. All the dog whistles, they had that after Charlottesville when Donald Trump said there were good people on both sides – they had those voters. They need to get the voters now in the suburbs of Atlanta, suburbs of Milwaukee, the suburbs of Philly, the suburbs of Detroit. That doesn't get them there, so I think this race is going to get even more interesting. I just wonder if they are capable of adjusting to doing what they need to do to actually bring new voters into the fold."
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