Trump On Biden Veep Pick Kamala Harris: Shes Very, Very Nasty

President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted he was surprised that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden chose Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate, in part because she was very nasty to Biden as they vied in their partys primary race.

I was more surprised than anyone else because she did so poorly in the primaries, Trump said at a White House press briefing shortly after the Biden campaign revealed Harris selection.

Plus, she was very, very nasty She was probably nastier than even Pocahontas to Joe Biden, the president added, resurrecting his insulting nickname for Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, another of this cycles Democratic White House candidates.

He also said Harris was very disrespectful to Biden, adding, Its hard to pick somebody thats that disrespectful.

Despite Trumps expression of surprise, political analysts of all stripes including those in the presidents camp for months had pegged Harris as the odds-on favorite to emerge as Bidens running mate.

Trump also accused Harris of being extraordinarily nasty to Brett Kavanaugh during the 2018 Senate Judiciary hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court. Harris and other committee Democrats hammered Kavanaugh over accusations that he sexually assaulted an acquaintance, Christine Ford, when they were in high school. Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegations, and the issue became a cause celebre among some Republican lawmakers.

Ive been watching her for a long time. She was extraordinarily nasty to [Kavanaugh], Trump said of Harris. She was nasty to a level that was just a horrible thing ... the way she treated now-Justice Kavanaugh. I wont forget that soon.

Trump often uses the word nasty to describe women with whom he disagrees and as a way to demean them. He has used the same insult to attack his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor, and the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Carmen Yuln Cruz.

In May 2019, Trump described Harris as nasty when asked about how she questioned Attorney General William Barr during a Judiciary Committee hearing.

On Tuesday, Trump also tweeted a short video by his campaign attacking the newly minted Democratic ticket. In line with Trumps tradition of using derisive some have said nasty nicknames for his opponents, the video refers to Slow Joe and Phony Kamala.

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pic.twitter.com/jXoffXyZed
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2020

Earlier Tuesday, immediately after Biden announced his running mate, Trumps campaign had released a statement using the phony label for Harris. The campaign highlighted pointed remarks she directed at Biden on racial issues at the first Democratic primary debate in June 2019.

Harris stressed that while she not insinuating that Biden was racist, she expressed concern with his opposition during his early years as a senator in the 1970s to federal initiatives to desegregate public schools by busing students to heavily white school districts. She also criticized him for praising the civility of his interactions with segregationist senators when he was a young lawmaker.

I do not believe you are a racist, Harris said to Biden. And I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground. But it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.

That moment turned out to be the high point of Harris presidential bid. After failing to gain traction in polls, she dropped out of the race in December.

Earlier Tuesday, Trumps campaign incorrectly claimed that Harris called Biden racist and accused her of abandoning her own morals by becoming Bidens running mate.

The campaign also attempted to use Harris to show that Biden was not a moderate Democratic candidate.

She is proof that Joe Biden is an empty shell being filled with the extreme agenda of the radicals on the left, senior Trump campaign adviser Katrina Pierson said in a statement.

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Harris said she was honored to run with Biden, saying in a statement posted on Twitter that he can unify the American people because hes spent his life fighting for us.

When Democrats officially nominate Biden and Harris later this month, she will be the first Black woman and first Asian American to run on a major political partys presidential ticket.