How 'Weird' Became the Word of the US Election
The Republican candidate for the US presidential election this November, Donald Trump, is known for the many names he calls his opponents.
For example, he calls President Joe Biden "Sleepy Joe," and has called Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer "Cryin' Chuck."
In 2016, when Hillary Clinton ran against Trump and his many names for her and for others, Michelle Obama famously told Democrats: "When they go low, we go high."
She meant that when Trump called Clinton and Democrats names, Democrats shouldn't respond by doing the same.
But in 2024, it seems Democrats have decided not to "go high" anymore. And the Democratic Party has responded to Trump's name-calling with one word: "weird."
Trump doesn't seem to like it.
"They're the weird ones. Nobody's ever called me weird. I'm a lot of things, but weird I'm not," Trump said in an interview on August 1.
Trump has called the Democratic Party's 2024 candidate, Kamala Harris, things like "weak," "dumb" and "lazy."
But it was Tim Walz, now Harris' running mate, who got the ball rolling with "weird."
He said in an interview in July: "These are weird people on the other side."
And his party has continued using the word against Republicans. It has worked, some say, because instead of trying to get voters scared about Trump's plans, "weird" is just dismissive.
The rationale is that if Democrats say Republican plans for the country are scary, that makes Trump look powerful to voters who agree with those plans.
But "weird" isn't powerful — it's weak.
Some say the Democrats are playing a dangerous game, however — by calling Trump and Republicans "weird," they may be seen as insulting voters as well.
And some US voters may actually like the idea that Republicans are "weird," even if Trump himself doesn't.
Others, however, say it would be better to try to bring the country together than for Democrats and Republicans to call each other names.
