The donkey in the room is not our open border, drug overdoses, a failing economy, high inflation, massive debt, global disrespect, or gradual approach to world war. It is simpler: Kamala Harris is, as a candidate – even without her untruthful, self-aggrandizing sidekick – dangerously immature.
Simple as that: To be president, you must have a bit of circumspection, must have lived a bit, learned by a lifetime of doing hard things, making mistakes for sure but also learning from them, and now you are ready to assume power with a degree of solemnity, sobriety, calm, strength.
Even Biden, who has likely forgotten much of what he once said, did, and lived, false statements he made, speeches taken from others, how he promoted himself by shamelessly savaging good men, like Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, recently leaving 100,000 allies to die in Afghanistan while inviting 10 million non-citizens to trade in drugs, girls, and death here, actually … knew the idea of maturity, even if it was an act, just something he had to do so that he could look the part.
Kamala Harris is Biden without any pretense of maturity, without the ability to suppress giggles, cackles, a kind of second-grade laughter, even when talking about enormous loss, military casualties, children at risk, drugs killing people, a border that is wide open, death, loss and cost.
She seems to have no understanding of what being serious, deadly serious, clear and historically grounded, honest and respectful, not smiling as you talk about people’s deep pain, not rolling your eyes, snickering, looking snide or like a 14-year-old rich Valley Girl, is all about.
The latest reality check for Americans, going beyond pretending she has done something, that she did not get to the top in questionable ways, laughing strangely out of turn, giggling at things that warrant seriousness, and insulting people with fake empathy, is the way she reacted to the hurricanes that have decimated millions in the south, left a trillion dollars’ worth of damage.
In a poorly staged video press conference, one that a high school drama club could have rolled out better, she first appeared lost, seemed utterly unready, then offensively, weirdly, bizarrely, had to cover her face with her hands – because she was uncontrollably laughing, behind her hands – at what? The heartbreaking devastation of American lives, her own celebrity, something. Inexcusable.
Truth is, the reason that Russia, Iran, China, and most of America’s undeclared enemies want Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States is not what many suspect – not exactly.
Yes, the world genuinely respects, and many fear, Donald Trump. They do not all like him, do not all understand him. Some see him as focused on himself, not as deep – apparently – as they obviously think they are, not as well read, sophisticated, urbane, politic, or polite – but he is real.
You are right that this is one reason Xi, Putin, and Iran do not like Trump, even if they respect and fear him: He says what he thinks, does what he says, tolerates fools poorly, and has lived enough of life to know their game, see through their lies, false promises, and fictions, knows their weaknesses, and calls them out. They do not like that, because his instincts are often dead on.
But that is not the biggest reason they do not want him to win. The biggest is that they see in Kamala Harris a patsy, an emotionally underdeveloped, transparently childish, obviously inexperienced, unprepared, and fundamentally immature foe, easy to manipulate, if necessary to overrun.
If America were ever in danger of electing a leader so out of sync she cannot do the job, not just morally, mentally, or experientially, but emotionally, it is now. Kamala Harris is not prepared. When you laugh at death, loss, and destruction, something is wrong. Harris is dangerously immature.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).
