Mr Biden’s abdication cleared the way for Vice-President Kamala Harris to focus attention on the abnormality of the Republican nominee, Donald Trump. Rather than stick with Mr Biden’s sombre approach, warning of a menace to America’s soul, she and her allies began needling Mr Trump. Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota and now Ms Harris’s running-mate, started calling him “weird”, and as she and other Democrats joined in, the former president foolishly took the bait.