Trump, Harris attack each other’s policies as US VP begins her presidential campaign
Donald Trump releases barrage of insults against Kamala Harris at a rally after she says his plans would take the US backwards
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) — Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of attack lines Wednesday against his likely new opponent in the US elections, Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he called his “new victim to defeat” and accused of deceiving the public about President Joe Biden’s ability to run for a second term.
The rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, marked his first public campaign event since Biden dropped out of the 2024 matchup and Harris became the Democrats’ likely nominee. The rally concluded minutes before Biden addressed the nation to explain he dropped his reelection bid to “pass the torch” to Harris, who is 22 years younger than him.
“So now we have a new victim to defeat: Lyin’ Kamala Harris,” Trump said, labeling her “the most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history.”
In a speech where he also claimed that Harris was in favor of the “execution” of babies due to her position on abortions, the former president and Republican nominee said: “She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country.”
“She wants abortions in the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy. That’s fine with her, right up until birth and even after birth, the execution of a baby,” Trump claimed.
He also mispronounced her first name repeatedly, a denigrating approach to the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent likely to lead a major party’s presidential ticket.
Trump’s speech signaled the next stage for the campaign may be especially brutal and personal, even as some GOP leaders warned Republican allies not to use overtly racist and sexist attacks against Harris.
Trump has ramped up his criticism of the vice president since Biden’s abrupt departure, calling Harris “the same as Biden but much more radical.”
He blamed her for what he portrays as the Biden administration’s failures, particularly security along the US-Mexico border. On Wednesday, the speakers who appeared on stage before the Republican nominee attacked Harris’s record on the border, highlighting she was tasked with leading a White House effort to tackle migration issues. Harris’s name was met with boos several times during the speeches.
“She was assigned that, she was given that task, and she failed,” said Brandon Judd, former president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents agents.
Trump also accused Harris of being just as responsible for Biden’s policies at the US-Mexico border, which saw illegal crossing arrests reach record highs at the end of 2023 and repeated his pledge to conduct mass deportations with the help of local police.
“Kamala’s deadly destruction of America’s borders is completely and totally disqualifying. She shouldn’t be allowed to run for president with what she’s done,” Trump told supporters.
On Tuesday, Harris whipped up a rapturous crowd at her first rally since effectively clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, while launching new attacks on Trump for trying to “take the country backward.”
While Biden used to target Trump as a threat to democracy, Harris has adopted a more personal and targeted approach, focusing on his record as a felon.
She pointed to her work as a California prosecutor dealing with what she said were “predators” and “fraudsters” before adding: “So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.”
On Wednesday, she visited Indiana where she told members of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta that “we are not playing around” and asked for their help in electing her president in November, an election she characterized as “a choice between two different visions for our nation, one focused on the future, the other focused on the past.”
Harris’s campaign released a statement after Trump’s speech describing it as “unhinged, weird and rambling.”
“Unity is over for Donald Trump,” said campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa, referring to unity pledges made during the Republican National Convention.
Harris is expected to make abortion a key part of her campaign, looking to present herself to voters as someone who will fight against abortion restrictions. Earlier this week, she said she “trusts women to make decisions about their own bodies.”
Trump has hedged on plans for an expected debate with Harris, first saying that he wanted Fox News, not ABC, to host the matchup he had originally scheduled for September with Biden. On Tuesday, Trump appeared to tweak that message again, saying on a call with reporters that he’d like to debate Harris “more than once” but not committing to appearing at the debate currently on the books and saying he’d only agreed to debate Biden twice, not Harris.
Quietly, Republicans have spoken about how subbing Harris in for Biden nullifies a portion of their party’s argument in favor of Trump’s vitality and vigor.
At 81, Biden would have been the oldest presidential nominee heading into a general election. Now, the 78-year-old Trump occupies that slot. Harris, 59, has launched a campaign that at least in some corners appears to be stoking interest among the younger voters who could be key in deciding an anticipated close general election.
Trump’s stop in North Carolina shows he’s concerned about keeping the state in his column this November, even as his team reaches for wins in traditionally Democratic-leaning states like Minnesota, which Trump is set to visit on Saturday.
North Carolina is a state Trump carried in both his previous campaigns but by less than 1.5 percentage points over Biden in 2020, the closest margin of any state Trump won. Trump stumped heavily in North Carolina even as the COVID-19 pandemic wore on, while Biden largely kept off the physical campaign trail and did not personally visit the state in the last 16 days of the election.
This year, Trump had planned to hold his first rally since the start of his hush money trial in Fayetteville, but that event was called off due to inclement weather. Trump called in from his private plane instead.
Democrats also have been working to win North Carolina, where the party’s most recent presidential win was Barack Obama’s 2008 victory, despite recent GOP dominance.
Trump’s Charlotte event was his second campaign rally since a July 13 assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally. Days later, Trump accepted the GOP presidential nomination and gave a speech at the Republican National Convention, where his ear — injured in the shooting — was bandaged.
The Charlotte rally, like one held Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was held in an indoor arena. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said it’s “to be determined” if the campaign will no longer hold outdoor rallies due to security concerns.
The Times of Israel Community.