President Donald Trump continues to pull out all the stops as he tries to lead his Republican Party to victory in next week’s midterm elections.
The 80-year-old politician has spent the last few weeks traveling across the country to stump for GOP candidates. Each event becomes a newsworthy spectacle.
Between going on long tirades about various topics and oddly complimenting his supporters’ body parts, Trump turned his speeches into easy fodder for ridicule.
His latest internet-breaking moment came on Oct. 27 during a rally for GOP Senate hopeful Ken Paxton in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The crowd heard most of Trump’s normal routine, a staple of his MAGA brand for a decade. But at one point, the billionaire mocked his former rival.
Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, securing a second, nonconsecutive term in the White House.
With another national election just days away, Harris, 62, also returned to the campaign trail this year. She recently went to New Hampshire to back up Senate candidate Rep. Chris Pappas, accusing his administration of being the “most callous, corrupt and incompetent” in American history.
Harris lamented that many Americans are feeling “depressed, “angry,” and “frustrated” during the Trump 2.0 era. But she never mentioned the current president by name.
Trump did not take that same subtle approach. About 30 minutes into his remarks at the Texas rally, the former reality television star brought up Harris while praising Border Patrol agents and attacking her record on immigration.
After claiming Harris failed to contact Border Patrol leadership during her time as vice president, Trump suddenly shifted from her political record to her name.
“Nobody knows her last name, by the way. Does anybody know?” Trump asked the crowd.
He continued, “No, they just call her Kamala. You know, if you ask somebody, let’s do a test, how many people know her last name? Like about five.”
But the president’s bizarre detour didn’t end there. Despite having faced Harris in one of the most closely watched presidential elections in recent history, Trump began deliberately butchering her first name.
“Kamala Harris…it’s funny, a simple name like Harris and nobody has a complicated name like Kamala. It’s Kamela, Kumala, Kamala, Kumala — nobody knows how to pronounce it yet, I don’t know,” he said.
Trump then returned to immigration, claiming Border Patrol official Paul Perez had never received a call or visit from Harris while she served in the Biden administration.
The mockery was hardly new. Trump repeatedly mispronounced Harris’ name throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, turning her first name into a recurring punchline at his political rallies.
Some of the MAGA hat-wearing audience members responded with light chuckles. However, the joke seemed to fall flat with other attendees standing behind Trump on the stage.
A clip of Trump’s takedown of Harris made its way to social media. The lukewarm response in Corpus Christi came off as high-spirited excitement compared to the negative feedback online.
“This is elder abuse at this point,” argued an X user in reaction to Trump’s cringeworthy taunting of Harris. A second person declared, “He’s such an embarrassment.”
Another critical poster slammed Trump by tweeting, “He knows d— well how to say her name by now; he’s just acting like a moron.”
“Rent free. He’s obsessed,” posted a Harris fan about the president. The state of Trump’s mental condition was called into question when someone wrote, “He is seriously unwell.”
Harris had the chance to address Trump, implying he had a hard time pronouncing her name. The Howard University graduate spoke to political commentator Aaron Parnas.
“The day after the election in November of ‘24, and I’m talking to him on the phone. And do you know, Aaron, what he said to me?” Harris asked “The Parnas Perspective” newsletter creator.
The daughter of an Indian immigrant mom and Jamaican immigrant dad added, “[Trump] pronounced my name perfectly, pronounced my name as my mother pronounced it.”
According to Harris, then-president-elect Trump also said to her, “You have a beautiful name.” She punctuated the anecdote with a feverish laugh.
The official White House account on X had already targeted Harris with AI-generated content featuring the former vice president and several other prominent Democrats.
On Oct. 26, a fake 19-second video of Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hit the timeline.
Taking inspiration from the popular Tiny Desk concert series, the White House-posted video depicted the Democrats singing “Outstanding” by The Gap Band. The caption read, “Dems are washed up.”
As Election Day quickly approaches, both Republicans and Democrats will likely lean into taking more direct shots at the other side of the aisle.
The political rivalry between Trump and Harris continues to fuel heated, sometimes awkward exchanges that reflect the deep divisions in American politics.
