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Donald Trump has insisted that he and running mate JD Vance aren’t “the weird ones” as the Republican presidential candidate works to combat Democrat messaging to the contrary.
Trump made the remarks Thursday on the “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,” a political podcast, following days of messaging from Kamala Harris’ campaign dubbing her rivals “weird.”
“Well, they’re the weird ones, and if you’ve ever seen [Kamala Harris] with the laugh and everything else, that’s a weird deal going on there,” Trump said. “They’re the weird ones. Nobody’s ever called me weird. I’m a lot of things, but weird I’m not and I’m up front, and he’s not either, I will tell you, JD is not at all, they are.”
“You notice the evening news, every one of them talk, you know, they introduced the word weird, and all of a sudden they’re talking about weird,” he continued. “Now, we’re not weird people. We’re actually just the opposite. We’re right down the middle.”
Harris’ campaign was quick to fire back on X.
“Trump (who is weird): ‘They’re the weird ones! Nobody’s ever called me weird. I’m a lot of things, but weird I’m not. And JD Vance is not either,’” the campaign posted alongside a clip of the podcast.
The “weird” label was first popularized by Minnesota Governor and vice-presidential-hopeful Tim Walz.
“We do not like what has happened, when you can’t even go to Thanksgiving dinner with your uncle because you end up in some weird fight that is unnecessary,” Walz told MSNBC on July 23.
“Well, it’s true. These guys are just weird,” he said, referring to Trump and Vance.
Democrats have latched onto the moniker, with Harris’ campaign labeling Vance “weird and creepy” in recent days. The campaign also released a statement on Thursday describing Trump as “old and quite weird.”
“After watching Fox News this morning we only have one question,” the campaign posted. “Is Donald Trump ok?”
“[Trump] praised dictators because he wants to be one; Trump is clearly worried he made the wrong pick in JD Vance; Trump is old and quite weird? This guy shouldn’t be president ever again,” the campaign statement continued.
Vance also addressed attacks on him being “weird” during a podcast appearance on Friday, claiming that young Democratic interns who were “bullied” are making the jabs.
“I don’t know if it’s something they focus-grouped and pushed on us,” Vance said. “I’m a pretty normal guy, I’ve got a wife and kids and I like to hang out and watch football. And I care about this stuff because I care about the country.”
“My best guess — this is just a total guess — is that her campaign is run by a lot of 24-year-old social media interns who maybe were bullied in school and so now they’ve decided they’re going to do the same thing.”
