posted September 13, 2024 02:20 AM            

http://archive.ph/Ck6LV#selection-703.0-703.91

By Patrick Healy
Deputy Opinion Editor

Right-wing absurdities — Donald Trump’s comments about Haitian migrants eating pets, JD Vance’s comments about “childless cat ladies” (among other things), Project 2025’s ideas, the conspiracist Laura Loomer being in Trump’s inner circle — are breaking through to regular Americans and undecided voters to a degree that undermines the Trump campaign’s goal of positioning the former president as the more moderate, change-oriented candidate in the race. To me, this is the biggest political dynamic coming out of Tuesday’s debate.

On Wednesday night, I spent a couple of hours with our Times Opinion panel of 14 undecided young voters — a group we are talking to weekly this fall — and I asked them to tell me something they had changed their minds about since our first conversation in mid-August. Two of them quickly brought up how much they had soured on Vance. Another young person had heard about Fred Trump’s assertions about Donald Trump and disabled people and felt disgusted with the former president. While many of them still have reservations about Harris after Tuesday’s debate, they were more dismayed with Trump’s behavior and remarks. Some were disgusted by his false allegations about migrants eating pets in Ohio. Two others brought up the images of Loomer and Trump.

Mark, a 24-year-old chef from California who remains undecided in the race, reflected the sentiments of several in the group when he said of Trump:

He doesn’t necessarily scare me. I think he’s incompetent. What scares me is the people he’s surrounded himself with and how they can use him. Laura Loomer was on the plane with them. The Heritage Foundation and all the plans they have. It just seems like he’s a vessel for other people who are way more competent and have way more plans to do stuff that I personally don’t agree with. I feel like they’re going to use him and get policies enacted that I personally don’t agree with.

A lot of regular people are starting to tune into the presidential race. After the debate, when they looked on TikTok, they saw wacky, unsubstantiated comments about people eating cats on one side and an endorsement from Taylor Swift on the other. Trump and his campaign have tried to position him as the more moderate candidate who would change the economy for the better. Some polls indicate people see him that way. But the more the wacky stuff breaks through to regular people — and it is breaking through — the worse it will be for Trump.