In an unprecedented second in trendy American historical past, the 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential candidates will face off of their first debate after simply seven weeks of campaigning in opposition to one another.
The New York Instances analyzed what the 2 candidates have mentioned about one another on social media from July 21, when President Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris grew to become the frontrunner to exchange him because the Democratic nominee, via Sept. 6. (For probably the most half, their statements on social media mirror their public feedback at rallies and different occasions.)
Whereas each candidates assault one another, The Instances discovered that former president Donald Trump targets Ms. Harris far more regularly, a mean of greater than 3 times per day, and his posts (on Reality Social) nearly all the time embody a private smear.
What Harris says about Trump in private phrases
Ms. Harris’s posts about Mr. Trump (on X) have a tendency to not go for the jugular. A handful of occasions, she has drawn consideration to his historical past of authorized bother, saying, for instance, that she is aware of “Donald Trump’s kind” as a result of she “took on predators, fraudsters and cheaters” as a prosecutor.
She has additionally described him within the following methods:
What Trump says about Harris in private phrases
In contrast, Mr. Trump’s assaults on Ms. Harris resemble the name-calling insults of a sexist schoolyard bully. He regularly drops private slights into political assaults, however he has additionally attacked Ms. Harris quite a few occasions in private phrases with out making any explicit reference to her insurance policies or political document. A few of these posts have touched as an alternative on her racial id or included generic insults referencing her authenticity or functionality.
Right here is how he has described her:
Mr. Trump instructed rallygoers in North Carolina final month that he’d had bother arising with a “title” for Ms. Harris, however that he was selecting “comrade.”
“I believe that’s probably the most correct title,” he mentioned.
What the candidates say about one another on the problems
Whereas each candidates additionally criticize one another on coverage issues, Mr. Trump almost all the time sprinkles in a private jab (or two or three) about Ms. Harris.
With out a private factor
Extremism
Economic system
Border / Crime
Electability
Trump authorized
Abortion
Overseas coverage
Surroundings / Power
Mr. Trump’s posts about Ms. Harris regularly embody spelling errors, falsehoods and his distinctive model of grammar and capitalization. He spent a couple of days in August regularly calling Ms. Harris “Kamabla,” although he has since deserted that moniker. Ms. Harris’s posts are extra typical of a conventional politician.
The border is an particularly contentious challenge.
In making immigration a central theme of his marketing campaign, Mr. Trump repeatedly and falsely calls Ms. Harris the Biden administration’s “border czar.” Ms. Harris notes that Mr. Trump pressured Republicans to oppose a bipartisan immigration deal.
Each accuse one another of being extremists.
Ms. Harris ties Mr. Trump to Undertaking 2025, a set of conservative coverage proposals that Mr. Trump has not too long ago tried to distance himself from. Mr. Trump (falsely) claims Ms. Harris is a “communist” who will “destroy America.”
Ms. Harris assaults Mr. Trump over abortion rights.
The vp repeatedly reminds voters that Mr. Trump appointed the Supreme Court docket justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. Mr. Trump hardly ever mentions reproductive rights.
Their barbs on the economic system are extra classically partisan.
Ms. Harris accuses Mr. Trump of solely caring about rich Individuals. The previous president blames Ms. Harris for inflation.