During September and October 2024 campaign events, Donald Trump launched a sustained barrage of personal attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her “mentally impaired,” “mentally disabled,” “dumb as a rock,” “lazy as hell,” and “low IQ.” At a rally on September 28, 2024, Trump declared: “Only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country.”
Trump also called for Harris to be prosecuted for her role in border policies, escalating beyond standard campaign rhetoric into demands for criminal punishment of his opponent. The attacks combined ableist language with racial and gender undertones that critics noted echoed long-standing stereotypes used to demean women and people of color in positions of power.
The American Association of People with Disabilities called Trump's comments “ableist and inaccurate,” noting that using disability as an insult harms the broader disability community. Multiple disability rights organizations condemned the rhetoric. Harris, a graduate of Howard University and UC Hastings College of the Law, served as San Francisco District Attorney, California Attorney General, U.S. Senator, and Vice President before these attacks.