RACISM REDUX

Trump Plots to Use ‘Willie Horton’ Attacks on Kamala Harris

A Trump adviser told “The Bulwark” reporter Marc Caputo that Vice President Kamala Harris had prosecuted “several Willie Hortons.”

A Trump adviser reportedly told The Bulwark reporter Marc Caputo that the Trump campaign is planning to hit Vice President Kamala Harris over “several Willie Horton” cases she prosecuted early on in her career. The adviser specifically said “Willie Hortons” in reference to an attack ad deployed by former President George H.W. Bush against his Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. The ad attacked Dukakis for letting a man by the name of Willie Horton, who was convicted of murdering a child, have weekend visits to his family when Dukakis was governor of Massachusetts. The attack, which attempted to paint Dukakis as “light on crime,” was perceived as a racist dig against Horton by Rev. Jesse Jackson and other Black lawmakers. Tony Fabrizio, a current Trump adviser and pollster, was involved with crafting the ad for the Bush campaign alongside infamous GOP strategist Lee Atwater. The Trump campaign has struggled to shake accusations of racism since its inception, with GOP lawmakers most recently shying away from calling Harris a “DEI hire” after a shakedown from Republican leadership.