Donald Trump is famous for filling stadiums at his political rallies, and his challenger, Kamala Harris, looks like she’s going for a similar reputation in the digital realm. An August 13 virtual “rally” drew 73,000 online participants according to Harris’ campaign.
Kamala Harris is the least popular vice president in history, and seemingly parachuted into the candidacy for this year’s election when President Joe Biden unexpectedly dropped out of the race in July.
What’s odd about the recent virtual rally is its title: “Republicans for Harris.” Really?
Apparently so. As part of its branding hyper-drive to present the gaffe-prone and hard-to-understand candidate as a fresh, visionary choice for the electorate, the Harris campaign is also working to draw in GOP voters. On X (formerly Twitter), the campaign wrote, “It’s OK to be a Republican and vote for Kamala Harris.”
While it is impossible to know the minds of attendees, it is reasonable to assume that most of them are in the “never Trump” camp. Donald Trump does not have many people indifferent to him; his style and personality seem to sort people into black and white love him or hate him categories.
Getting anyone’s attention for two solid hours is difficult even for live entertainment acts, but the Harris rally was held on the video conferencing platform Zoom. This may strike some readers as an event qualifying for one of Dante’s circles from hell, given how few people enjoy even short Zoom calls.
Appearing in the call were several Republicans who absolutely despise Trump, and whose statements make them sound indistinguishable from dyed-in-the-wool lifetime Democrats. These included former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Denver Riggleman, and Joe Walsh.
Former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan is another Republican doing the media rounds to stump for Harris.
Even the nominal host of the event used to work for the Trump administration. Olivia Troye said it was a lifelong dream of hers to work in the White House, but that her conscience would not permit her to continue working for the 45th president. She said she was an eyewitness to “chaos,” and that America cannot afford “to go back.”
