“Kamala Harris is a real challenge for Donald Trump,” assures Alexis Buisson, the candidate’s biographer.

Kamala Harris is expected to be officially nominated by the Democratic camp at a convention in late August. Donald Trump has already begun to attack her harshly. Is she ready to take the blows?

Yes, she is used to receiving them. As soon as she was elected to the Senate in 2016, her Republican opponents focused on her very personal attacks. Everything was there: her laugh deemed fake, her first name of Indian origin… The Trump campaign team, several weeks before Joe Biden’s withdrawal, began to saddle her with nicknames, to call her ” cackling Kamala “, in other words “Kamala cackling”, like the chickens…

Basically, what is he being accused of?

The conservative right attacks her primarily on her commitment to abortion, which dates back to 2022. The left of the left accuses her of having mishandled the migration file that Joe Biden had entrusted to her. She went to Central America in 2021 to ask migrants – she, the daughter of a Jamaican and an Indian – not to come to the United States. In doing so, she completely tarnished her image. The left of the Democratic Party also accuses her of a very harsh policy towards minorities and people in difficulty, such as single mothers, when she was prosecutor of San Francisco and then attorney general of California.

Precisely, doesn’t his rather “centre left” profile make Donald Trump’s attacks more difficult?

Her political identity is hard to pin down. She goes with the flow, depending on the situation. Like Joe Biden, she is rather moderate. But she is more to the left than the average Democrat. At the very beginning of the primary campaign in 2020, for example, she supported the creation of universal health coverage. This was seen as a very radical proposal that earned her being called a “communist” by the Trumpist right. We could define her as a candidate of synthesis.

Is she a more formidable opponent than Joe Biden for Donald Trump?

For the former Republican president, it represents a real challenge because, until Joe Biden’s withdrawal on July 21, he was facing a white man his age. Now, he finds himself facing a mixed-race woman almost twenty years his junior. This completely disrupts his campaign strategy. Will he self-censor? It’s not his style, he who is so impulsive. And this is a point that Kamala Harris’ campaign team will seek to exploit. Not to mention that the candidate’s profile could allow Democrats to win over the female electorate, suburban moderates as well as undecided voters. In other words, to put back together the pieces of the coalition that brought Joe Biden to power in 2020.

Will the Democratic candidate be able to create a “Harris moment” during the campaign, just as there was a “Trump moment” after the attempted assassination?

She has two windows of opportunity. First, there is the question of whether or not to hold a debate between the two candidates. A televised confrontation between Trump and Biden was planned for September, but it is possible that the Republican candidate will refuse a debate where Kamala Harris has everything to gain. Because if it takes place, we must expect her to have some scathing formulas. She will want to pose as the prosecutor facing the condemned. In addition, the Democratic convention, which will induct the party’s candidate from August 19 to 22 in Chicago, is fast approaching. She will be able to introduce herself to the general public during the traditional inauguration speech broadcast live on television.

Can being a low-profile vice president for four years have a positive effect?

It’s a double-edged sword. It could give her a better chance to tell her personal story and be less associated with Joe Biden. The vast majority of Americans don’t follow politics closely and will likely learn about it during this campaign. But it could also backfire on her and make people wonder what she’s been up to all this time. Personally, I think it’s a red herring because the role of vice presidents has almost always been to be super-advisors in the shadows.

To better situate her, seen from France, to which member of our political staff could we compare her?

It is infinitely delicate to compare two very different political systems. That said, I would answer, at the risk of surprising, Manuel Valls, for his inflexible side on security issues, while remaining considered on the left.