In a rambling conversation between X and Musk on the evening of August 12, Trump called Harris's replacement of Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate a "scam" and a "coup." To some extent, Trump has been using old tricks to attack Harris, using sexist clichés that he has used against female competitors and critics before.

On August 14, Charles M. Blow, a columnist for the New York Times, published an article titled "Another 'nasty' woman scares Trump", arguing that Trump's masculine posture is fragile and also exposes his fear - a woman of color who is doubly disadvantaged in the patriarchy dominated by white men is threatening the status of a man who has become a totem of the patriarchy.

In a rambling conversation between X and Musk on Monday, Trump called Harris's replacement of Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate a "scam" and a "coup." This can't help but remind people of the many times Trump has hinted or said that Hillary stole the Democratic nomination from Bernie Sanders. Taken together, it's hard not to conclude that in Trump's view, the only way these women can become benchmarks in the Democratic Party and his opponents is some kind of conspiracy.

And he rarely misses an opportunity to make a sexist remark, even when talking about policy. During the third debate, Clinton discussed how and why she planned to raise taxes on wealthier Americans like herself and Trump, punctuating her explanation with the phrase, “Assuming he doesn’t know how to get rid of it.”

Trump’s response was not surprising: “What a nasty woman.” As Claire Cain Miller wrote at the time, “Researchers say that male insults directed at powerful women serve a specific function: undermining their prestige and stirring up discomfort with women in power.”

Since Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, Trump has steered clear of the issues that matter most to her, instead launching personal attacks against her, often superficial ones meant to discredit her, but which only speak to his insecurity. Towards the end of his conversation with Musk, Trump complained that Harris had "taken a ride," referring to her recent Time magazine cover portrait, which he seemed to suggest was overly flattering. "She looks like the most beautiful actress ever," he said. A few years ago, he was revealed to have displayed a fake Time cover with his face on it.

All of this suggests that Trump’s masculine posture is fragile. It also exposes his fear that a woman of color, doubly vulnerable in a white male-dominated patriarchy, is threatening the position of a man who has become a totem of that patriarchy.