REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A Michigan college student, Marcus Johnson, has once again made headlines for challenging former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). Johnson, a political science major at Oakland University, appeared on MSNBC this week to highlight what he believes is a crucial flaw in Trump’s continued attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris.
In an editorial published by the cable news site, Johnson criticized Trump and Vance for their reliance on character attacks and misleading rhetoric. “College students such as myself not only want to see a campaign based on the issues — and not on the character attacks, hateful rhetoric, and fearmongering that the Trump campaign keeps using,” Johnson wrote. “But we also want to see a campaign that’s based on facts and not obvious lies.”
Johnson first gained attention earlier in the campaign season for a viral moment during the vice presidential debate between Vance and Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D-MN). After the debate, Johnson dismantled Vance’s claim about the so-called “Kamala Harris Administration,” pointing out its inaccuracy. “If anybody took high school civics class, they’d know what the vice president can do and what the vice president can’t do,” Johnson remarked. “You don’t get to do what you want — you do what the president delegates want you to do.”
Johnson returned to the topic this week, as Trump and Vance have continued to blame Harris for policies enacted by President Joe Biden’s administration. Johnson argued that their attacks are not only misleading but also an attempt to recycle old campaign strategies now that Biden is no longer in the race, having withdrawn earlier this year due to concerns about his age.
“It’s fair to associate her with the successes and failures of the administration,” Johnson wrote. “But it’s an insult to our intelligence to argue, as Trump and Vance are doing, that she could have already done as vice president everything she says she wants to do as president.” told NBC News.
Johnson also noted the unique challenges Harris faces as the first Black and Asian-American woman to secure a major party’s presidential nomination. He believes Trump and Vance’s rhetoric is part of an “unfair double standard” imposed on Harris as soon as she became the Democratic nominee.
“As soon as Biden announced he was abandoning his campaign and Harris stepped into the role as Democratic nominee, I knew there’d be an unfair double standard placed on her,” Johnson concluded. “But I didn’t expect that she’d be expected to fend off attacks that most teenagers would recognize as bogus.”
Johnson’s sharp critique has once again drawn attention to the type of discourse shaping the 2024 presidential race. His call for fact-based campaigning, rather than character assaults, has resonated with many who are weary of divisive political rhetoric.
