Kamala Harris seems to have taken a page right out of Trump’s playbook—and not the one you’d expect. During a campaign event on Monday, she decided to air a montage of Trump’s “greatest hits,” showing clips of the former president talking about “the enemy from within” and his not-so-subtle suggestions that political opponents should be jailed or dealt with violently. Harris, clearly aiming to paint Trump as “increasingly unstable and unhinged,” has ramped up her warnings about him in the final stretch of the campaign.
“He is out for unchecked power. That’s what he’s looking for,” Harris said, urging people to vote.
Now, showing Trump at his most bombastic isn’t exactly groundbreaking—this is the guy whose rally crowds famously chanted “Lock her up!” in 2016. But here’s where the irony kicks in: Harris isn’t immune to the same tactics. Trump, always the counter-puncher, has been rolling his own reels of Harris at his rallies, highlighting her awkward interview moments and policy stances that rile up his base.
The real kicker here is that while both sides are throwing these jabs, neither is really offering anything new. Trump’s been talking about the “enemy from within” for years, and Harris, despite trying to differentiate herself, seems intent on using the same rhetoric to take him down. The problem? It’s not clear this approach is working on the voters they need—moderate Republicans and independents. Harris claims she’s making inroads with these groups, even trotting out Liz Cheney for a bit of bipartisan flair, but let’s be honest: how many conservatives are actually swayed by Cheney or Harris talking about “common sense”? Spoiler: not many.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to fire up his base with calls for military action to deal with domestic threats, even naming politicians like Adam Schiff as enemies of the people. This is classic Trump—doubling down on the tough-guy image that earned him the loyalty of millions in the first place. Harris may think showing these clips will scare voters away from Trump, but the reality is that his base eats this stuff up.
And then, as if on cue, Joe Biden swoops in with his latest gaffe, saying Trump should be “locked up.” Of course, he quickly backpedaled, clarifying that he meant politically—not literally. But come on, Joe, we’ve seen this movie before. The Trump campaign wasted no time hitting back, claiming Biden let slip the Democrats’ true plan: political persecution. It’s almost like the Democrats are trying to hand Trump his talking points on a silver platter.
“Joe Biden just admitted the truth: he and Kamala’s plan all along has been to politically persecute their opponent President Trump because they can’t beat him fair and square,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“The Harris-Biden Admin is the real threat to democracy. We call on Kamala Harris to condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful remark.”
BREAKING: 14 days before the presidential election, Joe Biden calls for the incarceration of Donald Trump:
“We gotta lock him up.”
This is the “tell” as to why the Democrat machine has been feverishly working to imprison Trump. It’s all been intentional. pic.twitter.com/mXK5IfxJlA
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 22, 2024
With polling showing a razor-thin margin between Harris and Trump, both candidates are pulling out all the stops. But in a race where voters are weary of the same old talking points, you’ve got to wonder: is anyone really buying this?