The 2024 election felt like a fever dream that just wouldn't break. One minute, Donald Trump is prepping for a rematch with Joe Biden, and the next, he's facing a completely different animal in Kamala Harris. Honestly, the shift in rhetoric was like watching a car merge onto a highway at 90 miles per hour. Trump didn't just tweak his notes; he basically rewrote the whole playbook, and his comments about Harris became the focal point of a campaign that reshaped the American political landscape leading into his 2025 inauguration.
What Trump Said About Kamala Harris and the Border
You've probably heard the term "Border Czar" more times than you can count. This was Trump's go-to weapon. He didn't just call her a "disaster"; he specifically tied her to the record-breaking migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump’s argument was pretty straightforward: Harris was given one job—to fix the "root causes" of migration—and in his view, she failed miserably.
During a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, shortly after Biden dropped out, Trump didn't hold back. He told the crowd, "Kamala, you're fired. Get out of here." He wasn't just talking about her job performance. He was framing her as "ultra-liberal" and "dangerous."
It’s interesting because Harris actually supported a bipartisan border bill that would have added thousands of agents. Trump, however, called it "one of the worst ever written." He argued she didn't need a bill at all. His stance? She could have just said "Close the border" like he claims he did. This back-and-forth became the backbone of his "Incompetence and Weakness" narrative.
The Nicknames: From "Lyin' Kamala" to "Kamabla"
Trump has always used nicknames to brand his opponents. It's his thing. With Harris, it felt like he was test-driving a few different models before settling on a favorite.
💡 You might also like: Air Pollution Index Delhi: What Most People Get Wrong
- Lyin' Kamala: This was the early favorite. He used it to suggest she was being dishonest about her record as a prosecutor and her involvement in the Biden administration's policies.
- Kamabla: This one left everyone—including his own team—scratching their heads. He started posting it on Truth Social in August 2024. Was it a typo? A reference to something obscure? JD Vance was even asked about it on the trail and basically chuckled it off without an answer.
- Sleeping Kamala: Toward the end of the race, he tried to paint her as low-energy, similar to the "Sleepy Joe" moniker he used for years.
The rhetoric often got more personal than just policy. Trump frequently critiqued her laugh and her delivery during speeches. During the Democratic National Convention, he was posting a play-by-play on social media, complaining about "too many thank yous" and saying her speech was just "talk, talk, talk."
Economic Attacks and "Marxist" Labels
If the border was the first pillar of Trump's attacks, the economy was the second. He repeatedly labeled Harris as a "Marxist" or a "communist." He claimed her policies, specifically around price-gouging and housing tax credits, were straight out of a socialist textbook.
Trump's logic was that Harris would "destroy" the country through inflation. He often said the world was "laughing at her" and that "tyrants" were getting rich while she did nothing. He didn't just disagree with her; he framed her as a fundamental threat to the American way of life.
Interestingly, they actually agreed on one thing: No tax on tips. Harris eventually backed this proposal, which Trump had championed earlier. Of course, Trump didn't see this as a moment of unity. He accused her of "stealing" his idea.
📖 Related: Why Trump's West Point Speech Still Matters Years Later
The Abortion Debate and the "Lies"
Abortion was perhaps the most nuanced part of the exchange. Harris hammered Trump for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling him and his allies "out of their minds."
Trump’s response was a bit of a dance. He called her claims about a national abortion ban a "lie." He repeatedly posted that "everybody" wanted the issue brought back to the states. He tried to position himself as a moderate by supporting exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, while accusing Harris of being the "radical" for her stance on late-term procedures.
Foreign Policy and the "Hates Israel" Claim
Trump didn't pull punches on the global stage either. He famously claimed that Kamala Harris "hates Israel." He pointed to her absence during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress as proof.
On the flip side, Harris maintained that she "will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself," but Trump wasn't buying it. He argued that if he were president, the war in Ukraine would never have started and the October 7th attacks would have been avoided. To him, Harris represented "weakness" that invited aggression from leaders like Putin and Kim Jong Un.
👉 See also: Johnny Somali AI Deepfake: What Really Happened in South Korea
How to Fact-Check These Claims Yourself
Politics is messy. People say things in the heat of a campaign that don't always hold up to the light of day. If you're trying to figure out what was actually said versus what was "campaign speak," here's how to do it:
- Look for the Raw Footage: Don't trust a 10-second clip on TikTok. Go to C-SPAN or the official campaign YouTube channels. Watch the full minute before and after a quote.
- Check Primary Documents: If Trump says Harris "wants to ban gas cars," look at her actual policy platform or the legislation she's voted on. Often, the reality is "phasing out" or "incentivizing electric," which is different from a total ban.
- Cross-Reference Nicknames: If a name like "Kamabla" pops up, check if it was a one-off typo or a repeated branding attempt. It helps distinguish between a mistake and a strategy.
- Use Non-Partisan Trackers: Sites like Ballotpedia or the AP's fact-checking wing are great for seeing the "Reality and Context" behind a punchy rally quote.
The 2024 campaign wasn't just a battle of ideas; it was a battle of personalities. Trump's comments about Kamala Harris were designed to make her seem both "radical" and "incompetent." Whether it worked is a matter of historical record now, but understanding the specific words used helps make sense of the political climate we're living in today.
Basically, the best way to stay informed is to keep a healthy skepticism of both sides. Words matter, but the context behind them matters more. Stay curious.
Actionable Next Steps:
To get the most accurate picture of this rhetoric, you should compare the official transcripts of Trump's 2024 rallies with the policy memos released by the Biden-Harris administration during that same period. This allows you to see exactly where the rhetoric diverged from the legislative reality. Focus specifically on the August 2024 Charlotte rally and the September 2024 debate for the most concentrated examples of these exchanges.