So much for “Joy”

Dear Team Kamala: Your anger betrays you

I may not know who will win the election, but I can tell you with certainty which candidate thinks she’s losing.

Yesterday, Donald Trump donned an apron and worked the French fries and drive-thru window at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, and Team Kamala lost its ever-lovin’ mind.

It was a master class in retail politics that generated so much attention for the candidate, not to mention several iconic photographs, that the only reaction the other team could muster was impotent rage.

“Well, oh yeah? It was STAGED!”

Yes, that’s how campaign stops generally work.

Did they think that Trump filled out a job application, sat down for an interview with the manager, and was hired? Of course it was staged, you prats! Campaigns arrange events at all kinds of places. Team Kamala staged a “Kamala greets customers at a diner in Pennsylvania” event that included kicking out the restaurant’s regulars and replacing them with Kamala supporters who were bused in to play the supporting roles.

“It was all fake! The Secret Service vetted the customers!!!”

Yes, that’s what the Secret Service does — especially for a presidential candidate who was already the target of not one but two assassination attempts.

Look, they’re not mad because “it was staged.” They’re mad because it was brilliant and they didn’t think of it first.

The minute the Washington Free Beacon fact-checked Kamala’s claim of having worked at a McDonald’s when she was in college, her campaign could have staged an event with Kamala working the French fries. But they didn’t. Instead, they let it dangle like low-hanging fruit, leaving Donald Trump to wander over and pluck it.

More fool them.

Even some people I follow on Twitter who aren’t fans of Donald Trump can see the genius behind this campaign stunt.

As one non-Trump fan noted on Twitter:

Trump getting this photo before Kamala is this cycle's Hillary not going to Wisconsin.

Yup.

Here’s the thing. Trump is good at retail politics. He’s a master at it. Sure, he’s a wealthy man who lives in a gilded estate, but he is at ease among all kinds of people — farmers, factory workers, stay-at-home moms, and McDonald’s employees.

The same non-Trump fan also had this to say about one of the video clips:

This is charming as hell. While easily overlooked, my fave part as a biz owner was when he doublechecked with the employee on the correct procedure.

Kamala Harris could not do retail politics if her life depended on it. She is far too insecure and out of touch to pull something like this off.

Seeing the responses from Team Kamala made me think of @dril’s legendary tweet:

Remember when Kamala claimed her campaign was built on “Joy?” Well, “Joy” was in precious short supply yesterday, let me tell you.

Twitter was jammed with pro-Harris accounts venting their huffy adolescent indignation.

One of Team Kamala’s go-to Twitter accounts, “Kamala’s Wins,” even went after the McDonald’s in question:

Yes, that will appeal to working-class voters.

The political instincts of the White House staffer in charge of “Kamala’s Wins” are even worse than Kamala’s, and that’s saying something.

NeverTrumper David Frum of The Atlantic attempted to downplay the success of Trump’s McDonald’s campaign stop by posting pictures of presidential candidates grilling burgers and hot dogs, noting that other candidates “fried” food too.

Don’t be too hard on David for not knowing the difference between cooking burgers on a grill and cooking fries in a deep-fryer. He’s Canadian.

Yes, it is just like other campaign events presidential candidates stage. So why are you guys losing your minds over it?

Could it be because it was effective?

As Dave Reaboi noted:

Trump serving customers and making fries is basic campaign photo op stuff. What makes it special is that, while it’s totally at odds with his persona, he looks like he’s legit having a great time hanging with the people. That’s the part most politicians can’t pull off.

Both Kamala’s campaign and the pro-Kamala media are losing their minds because Kamala Harris could never in a million years do what Trump did yesterday, even under the most controlled conditions. Her handlers know it. The press knows it. We know it.

It’s the same reason they prevented Kamala from attending the Al Smith dinner in New York last week. The traditional “presidential candidates poke fun at themselves and each other” event is so far out of Kamala’s comfort zone that her campaign couldn’t risk it.

Then again, a strike zone is larger than Kamala’s comfort zone.

Kamala can’t do self-deprecating humor. She can’t do humor at all, which may explain why she is the only one who laughs at her jokes.

Instead of attending the Al Smith dinner, the Kamala campaign sent a 3-minute pre-recorded “skit” featuring a former SNL performer. They then released an irate, thin-skinned statement raging at Trump for the jokes he told.

They wouldn’t act like this if they were winning.

Team Kamala’s Joy has turned to ash — something they knew would eventually happen but hoped wouldn’t until after the election.

I suggested in July that Kamala Fever was little more than a sugar high. Eventually, when the sugar rush wore off, voters would remember why Kamala’s 2020 campaign didn’t survive long enough to make the Iowa caucus.

Trump is a master at retail politics. On the other hand, Kamala Harris is the most insecure, awkward, and uncomfortable politician to ever run for office.

It’s why she needs celebrities to keep her campaign afloat.

Without the constant media fluffing and celebrity endorsements, Kamala would be polling behind Jill Stein.

As Eddie Zipperer noted on Twitter this morning:

The media's frustration stems from the fact that Harris had Lizzo, Usher, and the cast of The West Wing campaigning for her this weekend, and Trump buried all that by wearing an apron and scooping fries for 15 minutes.

It certainly didn’t help that Trump staged this brilliant campaign stop on Kamala’s 60th birthday. Don’t underestimate how brassed off her team was that Trump sucked all the oxygen out of her special day.

Every time I think of that, I chuckle.

Kamala breezed into this race believing she had it in the bag. Donald Trump is forcing her to work for it.

Sadly for Team Harris, Kamala has neither the skill nor the talent to rise to the occasion.