OPINION:
Time is almost up for the presidential contenders. The moves they make now are meant to persuade the undecided voters who could tip the balance in a narrowly divided contest. It’s not clear whether those who haven’t made up their mind are likely to be moved by the stoking of resentment, fear and division.
But that’s the approach taken by Kamala Harris. “Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at my table,” the vice president wrote on X this past Wednesday.
This continued the dark theme Ms. Harris spread at an Oct. 11 event.
“Donald Trump is not only a threat on the world stage,” she said. “As we have seen a rise in antisemitism in our own country, Trump has espoused dangerous and hateful antisemitic tropes, creating fear and division.”
Ms. Harris’ boss, President Biden, joined in. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization is unconscionable and un-American.”
While Ms. Harris said she doesn’t endorse these words, her running mate sings from the same playbook, equating a gathering of 20,000 Trump supporters to a Nazi rally.
“Donald Trump has descended into madness,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said. “Donald Trump’s got this big rally going at Madison Square Garden. There’s a direct parallel to another rally that happened in the 1930s at Madison Square Garden.”
But Mr. Trump doesn’t seem very good at throwing a national socialist rally. Thousands of Jewish supporters attended his gathering waving Israeli flags. The former president also embraced a diverse array of public figures on stage.
“I spoke at that rally,” Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Republican, said on CNN. “So did Harry-O, the founder of Death Row Records. So did Vivek Ramaswamy. So did Tulsi Gabbard. I don’t think the Nazis would let us speak at their rally.”
If Mr. Trump were intent on jailing his opponents, he would have started with Hillary Clinton in 2017. Instead, he wisely opted to put the country first — a choice Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have not made.
The Justice Department is in court doing everything it can to jail the GOP candidate. Two of his advisers — Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon — have spent time in prison on entirely political charges.
Over 1,000 Trump supporters have been imprisoned for trespassing and interfering with Congress — a charge the Supreme Court says is a misreading of a statute about document shredding.
But like any who disagree with the Biden-Harris machine, they’re treated like enemies, while those who agree get a free pass. Consider comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who made a joke on his ABC show the other evening.
“If you want to vote for Trump, vote late,” he said. “Vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday or maybe Friday.”
It was harmless election-season humor, but when a right-leaning prankster urged supporters of Mrs. Clinton to “text their vote” to a fake number in 2016, he was arrested as soon as the Biden-Harris administration took power five years later. His “crime” consisted of posting a comic image on social media.
“When I made an election joke, the Deep State used it as a pretext to conduct a fishing expedition against me, subpoenaing all financial records, leases, employment information and pay stubs, and email accounts,” meme maker Douglass Mackey wrote on X on Thursday.
Voters have a chance to end the division, and perhaps have the last laugh, on Tuesday.
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