A recent MSNBC focus group featuring women in Wisconsin offered scathing assessments of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, with one participant bluntly labeling her “an idiot.” The group’s criticism came on the heels of Harris’ visit to the state, where she launched her first campaign rally since becoming the presumptive nominee following the Democratic party’s shake-up. MSNBC has called Wisconsin a “battleground state.”
All participants in the focus group indicated they plan to cast their ballots for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. When asked to compare Harris to her predecessor, Joe Biden, one voter stated, “I think she’s worse. She doesn’t seem to have a grasp on the border situation, which was supposed to be her area of focus.”
The women’s harsh words were largely centered on Harris’ performance as border czar, a role she was assigned by Biden in March 2021. At the time, Biden praised Harris as “the most qualified person” to address the migration crisis at the southern border. However, the situation has only worsened under her watch, with over 10 million illegal migrants entering the US and a record 686 migrant deaths and disappearances last year. Harris declined to meet with any U.S. Border Patrol chief under the Biden administration and has previously advocated for decriminalizing border crossings.
The focus group placed blame squarely on Harris for the ongoing border crisis, citing her lack of action and leadership. One participant, Mary, expressed her frustration, saying, “I think she’s an idiot because she hasn’t accomplished anything in her time in office. We don’t know anything about her, and she doesn’t seem very intelligent.”
The group also criticized Harris’ recent takeover of Biden’s presidential campaign, with one participant drawing a comparison to her own profession as a school teacher. “If I didn’t do my job, I’d be in trouble. But Harris wasn’t held accountable; instead, she got a promotion.”
The women emphasized that they would be willing to support a female presidential candidate, but only if she were competent. They seemed to imply that Harris’ rise to power was more a result of her gender and background than her qualifications or achievements.
