Kamala Harris campaign and supporters embrace a new criticism of Republican ticket: ‘Just plain weird’ - The Boston Globe (2024)

Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, a potential Harris running mate, first used the term last week during an interview with MSNBC and later posted the interview clip on X, captioning it: “I’m telling you: these guys are weird.”

“These are weird people on the other side,” Walz said in the clip. “They want to take books away, they want to be in your exam room... These are weird ideas.”

In an appearance Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, Walz was asked whether “weird” was a more effective line of attack than others the Democrats have employed, to which he responded, “it’s an observation.”

“Listen to the guy,” Walz said of Trump to CNN’s Jake Tapper. “He’s talking about Hannibal Lecter and shocking sharks and just whatever crazy thing pops into his mind.”

“We just give [Trump] way too much credit… When you just ratchet down some of the scariness or whatever, and just name it what it is… Have you ever seen the guy laugh? That seems very weird to me that an adult can go through six-and-a-half years of being in the public eye. If he has laughed, it’s at someone, not with someone,” Walz said.

“That’s very weird behavior,” the governor added. “I don’t think you call it anything else. It’s simply what we’re observing.”

The Harris campaign quickly adopted the line in a press release on Thursday, highlighting “takeaways” from a Trump appearance on Fox News. Tucked among the list were the entries, “Trump is old and quite weird?” and “Is Donald Trump OK?”

The use of the “weird” label appears to be a strategic effort by Democrats to underscore recent rhetoric by Trump, but also as a way to highlight some of Vance’s past statements.

Other Democrats, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, have also adopted the term recently.

During an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Schumer criticized Vance, saying, “Every day, it comes out Vance has done something more extreme, more weird, more erratic.”

“I’ll bet President Trump is scratching his head and wondering, ‘Why did I pick this guy?’” Schumer said. “The choice may be one of the best things he ever did for Democrats.”

Buttigieg, another potential Harris VP pick, told MSNBC that Trump had selected a running mate who “reminded so many Americans of why they are off put by the turn that the Republican Party has taken in the last few years.”

“It’s not just that he said a lot of things that are weird or insulting, like the characterization of the Democratic Party as childless cat ladies,” Buttigieg said. “He seems to view everything in terms of the negative.”

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, another top contender to be a Harris running mate, criticized Vance for his remarks about Diet Mountain Dew during an Ohio rally last week where Vance claimed that Democrats “say it’s racist to do anything” regarding voter identification.

Vance quipped, “I had a Diet Mountain Dew yesterday, and one today, I’m sure they’re gonna call that racist too, but — it’s good,” a comment that made for an awkward moment when it didn’t seem to land with his supporters.

“What was weird was [Vance] joking about racism today. And then talking about Diet Mountain Dew. Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?” Beshear said on CNN.

(Beshear later sought to “set the record straight” and apologized to Diet Mountain Dew for insulting the soda brand while jabbing at Vance.)

As Democrats trot out the “weird” line, some Republicans are criticizing it.

As for Vance, he says he’s not offended by Democrats calling him “weird.”

When asked by a Fox News reporter on Sunday if the comments bothered him, Vance replied, “No, not at all. It doesn’t hurt my feelings.”

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy criticized Democrats for labeling Trump and Vance as “weird,” saying on X that the comments are “dumb & juvenile.”

“This is a presidential election, not a high school prom queen contest. It’s also a tad ironic coming from the party that preaches ‘diversity & inclusion.’ Win on policy if you can, but cut the crap please,” Ramaswamy wrote on X.

Alyssa Vega can be reached at alyssa.vega@globe.com.