On today's CNN This Morning, host Kasie Hunt gushed over how "beautiful" Kamala Harris is. They played off a soundbite of Donald Trump talking about the embarrassing artsy Time cover of Harris and telling a rally crowd that he's better looking.
Hunt repeatedly cited a Peggy Noonan column about the "beautiful" Harris, including this line:
The excitement here, he was technically responding to a Peggy Noonan column that was at the beginning of August, where Noonan says "She is beautiful. You can’t take a bad picture of her. Her beauty, plus the social warmth that all who have known her over the years speak of, combines to produce: radiance. And it's foolish to believe that this doesn't matter." But it really kind of puts the, this race into sharp relief.
Mark McKinnon cited another line about Harris from the Noonan column: "The woman isn't creating a movement, but a movement is creating her." As we observed last week: a key element of that movement "creating" Harris is the liberal media itself.
Then came CNN political commentator -- and as identified on screen, former Biden White House communications director -- Kate Bedingfield drawing a contrast with a Republican Party that is "reeling," where many of President Trump's appointees refuse to endorse him this time. She added that swing voters in Pennsylvania aren't staying up at night wondering which candidate is more attractive, spurring this exchange:
HUNT: Well, it does. Peggy Noonan goes on to say, it does matter. So many in this male-dominated profession have taken to Botox fillers, dermabrasions, facelifts, and all the cosmetic things. Is what she wrote! Because they're in a cosmetic profession.
BENINGFIELD: Okay. That's fair. And absolutely it is....it is a performance-focused --
HUNT: Yeah.
BENINGFIELD: -- industry, platform, and Kamala Harris is beautiful. She is beautiful.
It would probably be sexist to wonder out loud if Kamala Harris has "taken to Botox fillers, dermabrasions, facelifts and all the cosmetic things." But we're left to think it's only the males that are "fixing" their face.
But back to this: "All" who have known Harris speak of her "warmth?" That "all" would presumably not include the historically high percentage of her staffers who have quit or been fired, finding that Harris exuded anything but "social warmth." As the father of one ex-Harris staffer wrote [emphasis added]:
"Senator Harris vocally throws around ‘F-bombs’ and other profanity constantly in her berating of staff and others. The staff is in complete fear of her and she uses her profanity throughout the day. As Attorney General, Senator Harris instructed her entire staff to stand every morning as she entered the office and say, ‘Good Morning General.' Gregory was also given instructions to never address Harris nor look her in the eye as that privilege was only allowed to senior staff members."
Here's the transcript.
CNN This Morning
8/19/24
6:02 am EDTDONALD TRUMP: Time magazine doesn't have a picture of her. They have this unbelievable artist drawing her. But 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. They said no, her biggest advantage is that she's a beautiful woman.
. . .
KASIE HUNT: Mark McKinnon, I've got to start with you, because of course what Trump was reacting to there, it's a very specific example in a broader universe of just how people are dealing with Kamala Harris right now. The excitement here, he was technically responding to a Peggy Noonan column that was at the beginning of August, where Noonan says she is beautiful. You can't take a bad picture of her, her beauty plus the social warmth that all who have known over the years speak of combines to produce radiance. And it's foolish to believe that this doesn't matter.
But it really kind of puts the, this race into sharp relief.
MARK MCKINNON: It's the greatest and latest example of just how unprepared he is to deal with with Kamala Harris. Peggy Noonan, by the way, who's Reagan's speechwriter and a terrific columnist, has had another great line about what's happening here. And when she said, it's not so much that Kamala Harris created a movement as a movement created her.
. . .
KATE BENINGFIELD: Tonight you're going to see some of the elder statesmen and the kind of pillars of the Democratic party. A dramatic contrast with where the Republican party is right now, which is, the majority of people who have served under Donald Trump not willing to endorse him. I mean, you have a Republican party that is fractured, that is reeling.
You have Donald Trump making arguments about who's more attractive. Because if there's one thing that a swing voter in Pennsylvania really cares out, it's, you know, is Donald Trump more attractive than Kamala Harris? that's what that's like, keeping them up at night while they're grappling with who to vote for.
HUNT: Well, it does. Peggy Noonan goes on to say, it does matter. So many in this male-dominated profession have taken to Botox fillers, dermabrasions, facelifts, and all the cosmetic things. Is what she wrote! Because they're in a cosmetic profession.
BENINGFIELD: Okay. That's fair. And absolutely it is. It is a, it is a performance-focused --
HUNT: Yeah.
BENINGFIELD: -- industry platform and Kamala Harris is beautiful. She is beautiful.
