Donald Trump Accidentally Confirms His Biggest Insecurity Still Consumes Him
Donald Trump hopes to transform himself once again into the president come November 2024, but his methods are unorthodox, to say the least. Now that Vice President Kamala Harris has replaced the current commander-in-chief, Joe Biden, on the Democratic ticket, Trump has been forced to switch gears with his campaign strategy. No longer able to lean on the "too old for office" argument, he appears to be scrambling for different ways to undermine Harris. In doing so, however, the controversial politician unwittingly revealed an underlying insecurity about himself.
Knowing every vote counts in swing state Pennsylvania, Trump held a rally in Wilkes-Barre on August 17, 2024, before an adoring, MAGA cap-sporting crowd. He covered plenty of familiar ground, including the economy, the crime rate, and the "scam" of global warming (the rising oceans "will give you slightly more beachfront property," the former president claimed rather flippantly, per X, formerly known as Twitter). Then, Trump went on a rant against Harris that swerved off in a direction no one expected.
TIME magazine had just released its latest edition, featuring a sketched portrait of Harris with the coverline: "Her Moment." And, as seen in a tweet posted on X, he joked that the publication had to fall back on the artwork because the photos they took "didn't work out." Arguing against Harris supposedly being "a beautiful woman," the former "Apprentice" host retorted, "I say that I am much better-looking than her. I think I'm much better. Much better. I'm a better-looking person than Kamala."
"I am much better looking than her" — Trump is still mad about Kamala Harris looking too good on the cover of Time pic.twitter.com/yZ1EbZB46T
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 17, 2024
Will this be a presidential Battle of the Beauties?
Perhaps it's to be expected of a man who once owned the Miss Universe Organization, but Donald Trump seems to be more outwardly concerned about his physical appearance than most presidential candidates. Trump's hair — remarkably all his, as demonstrated in a video clip posted online — is a particular source of pride. Trump finally admitted to the combover everyone suspected all along, but he reportedly refuses to cut it because his style is such a key part of his brand. Even by the former president's own vain standards, however, Trump's wild claim about being better-looking than Kamala Harris demonstrated just how little confidence he has in his looks.
Naturally, his latest boast was met with plenty of chuckling on X. As one user quipped, "Wait'll she lands on Vogue. That'll be the end of him." Another commenter summed up the odd moment neatly: "I don't know one man on earth who would compare himself to a wom[a]n. It's like comparing apples and oranges," hilariously clarifying, "Trump by the way....you do not...look better than VP Harris." But his supporters aren't laughing.
Trump's attacks on superficial matters such as the vice president's looks and laugh, they say, are only weakening his campaign. As commentator Nikki Haley, a former candidate herself, reasoned in a Fox News interview, "[T]he campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. It's not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is. It's not going to win talking about whether she is dumb. You can't win on those things," (via X).