Dueling Meltdowns

First, the Republican meltdown over…people being biracial? Politicians code-switching? "I don't know, is she Indian or is she black?" asked Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, referring to his presumptive opponent Kamala Harris, at the annual convention for the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

"I've known her a long time, indirectly," Trump had said right before. "And she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I did not know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black."

"I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went—she became a black person," he added.

Harris is biracial, born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, which seems to really be blowing Trump's mind. He appeared to be trying to make the case that Harris code-switching, to appeal to black voters in speeches, is disingenuous. (Welcome to politics!) But it came off more as rude to biracial people, as if they need to pick an identity group.

"This room of mostly Black journalists is not the same friendly territory that the former president is used to on the campaign trail," reports The New York Times' Maya King. "As he cracks jokes and repeats falsehoods about his court cases and record, the audience is gasping and scoffing. Few are applauding or laughing."

At one point, Trump claimed immigrants are "taking black jobs." When pushed by a moderator to define what, exactly, a "black job" is, Trump claimed it was "any job." (If the claim is that Harris is disingenuous, pandering to black voters, it looks like Trump is cut from the same cloth.)

"Historically, the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact," said Trump in response to a question about whether J.D. Vance would be ready for the job on day one. "I mean, virtually no impact…Virtually never has it mattered." It was a real shit show of an appearance, with Trump careening all over the place and very much failing to win over the room.

Trump later doubled down on his race comments, projecting headlines touting Harris' Indian ancestry on screen at his Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, rally:

The Trump campaign is projecting this on the screen above the stage at his rally in Harrisburg PA: pic.twitter.com/ZsGHAZaruk

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) July 31, 2024

Second, the Democratic meltdown over…journalists interviewing Trump: As if Trump's sort of strange race commentary weren't off-putting enough, many members of the media seem thoroughly unable to do their jobs when Trump is involved, in a sad redux of the last eight years.

"Trump's acceptance of NABJ's invitation prompted at least one high-profile member of the organization to step down as the co-chair of the convention," reported Voice of America. "Others expressed concerns that Trump would be given a platform to make false claims or give the impression he had the group's endorsement."

Journalists took to X to express their dismay at Trump even being invited to speak onstage at the NABJ conference, never mind the fact that the conference customarily invites candidates running for president to speak, so it would be out of step with tradition if Trump were randomly excluded.

On a personal note, NABJ has meant a lot to so many of us, so this has been hard to see play out on multiple levels. But I will never forget that Donald Trump insulted and was hostile to a Black female journalist in our own communal space and was unchecked. And the feeling of…

— Natasha S. Alford (@NatashaSAlford) July 31, 2024

Several journalists were seemingly unable to grasp the fact that Trump making strange comments, revealing of his character and his campaign strategy, which may in fact affect how some black voters view him, and those comments becoming a top domestic politics story is in fact a job well done. Journalists should know better than to equate interviewing someone with endorsing their beliefs. Also, didn't we already do this whole idiotic rigamarole years ago, the first time Trump ran for office? And the second? Can't we just cover the man, quoting what he says, without losing our minds?

The galaxy-brain take: "The question Republicans ought to confront before leveling any attack is: 'Will this energize my supporters more or hers?'" asks Abigail Shrier at The Free Press. "For nearly every ad hominem salvo currently flung at Harris, the answer is: hers." This most recent kerfuffle is no different. From a pure political strategy standpoint, it's not clear why Trump made the comments he did at the NABJ conference or how those comments will help him.

Scenes from New York: How to grow weed in your house or apartment (from Curbed).

QUICK HITS

• The Federal Reserve looks like it might cut interest rates in September, drawing widespread opprobrium from strategists in both parties: Democrats fear that it's too little too late to be a useful signal that inflation has been tamed (and President Joe Biden ought to be credited, in their telling), while Republicans fear it could be a messaging win for their opponents.
• "You almost have to feel sorry for Kevin Roberts, the ambitious president of the Heritage Foundation. He steered the venerable think tank away from some of its longtime conservative principles to court Donald Trump, only to be spurned by the temperamental former President he and his institution courted," writes the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. 
• So true:

semiotics is the study of signification, unpopular due to being too abstract

heres why it matters: you make a tech device, called 'friend'. it provides companionship. but to wear this wouldnt signal "i have companionship". it signals the opposite: it communicates your alone-ness https://t.co/7iuRIXjgiL pic.twitter.com/KIuAvX1pW3

— owen cyclops (@owenbroadcast) July 31, 2024

• "Kari Lake won the Republican Senate primary in Arizona…setting up a high-stakes contest in the fall for the seat of Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who is retiring," reports The New York Times. "And Republican voters ousted a top elections official in Arizona's most populous county who angered conservatives by defending the state's voting system against false claims that the 2020 election was stolen."