Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivered a speech on Wednesday, in which he launched a series of personal and policy-related attacks against his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris. This came as he attempts to recover from a difficult period where his once-commanding lead in opinion polls has nearly disappeared.
Some of Trump’s supporters, donors, and advisers have raised concerns about his criticisms of the U.S. vice president’s intelligence, advising that he should instead concentrate on what they consider the failed policies Harris has supported while in office.
During his address to supporters in Asheville, North Carolina, Trump avoided making comments about Harris’s racial identity and focused more on policy details than he had in recent speeches. Nevertheless, he continued to make personal jabs at her, at one point calling her “stupid” and mocking her laugh, describing it as the “laugh of someone with serious issues.”
Since becoming the Democratic Party’s nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race last month, Harris has significantly altered the political landscape. Polls now show her consistently closing the gap with Trump, with some even indicating she has taken the lead ahead of the November 5 election.
This shift has unsettled Trump’s campaign, leading him to respond with insults. He has insinuated that Harris, whose mother is of Indian descent and father is of Jamaican descent, has only recently embraced her Black identity. Some Republicans have attacked her with racist and sexist remarks.
Some of Trump’s allies believe this strategy has damaged his campaign.
“Personally, it doesn’t matter to me how Kamala chooses to identify,” said Bill Bean, a major Republican donor who recently hosted Trump’s vice presidential pick, JD Vance, at a fundraiser in Indiana.
Bean mentioned that he had discussions with Vance and Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley about the importance of focusing on Harris’s policy record rather than her identity.
In the latter part of his North Carolina speech, Trump shifted to attacking Harris’s policies while laying out his own agenda.
He promised to open federal lands for drilling and streamline the permitting process for pipelines, among other actions aimed at lowering consumer prices if he defeats Harris.
He also vowed to reduce energy and electricity costs by half within 12 to 18 months of taking office. Though he did not detail how he would achieve this, he reiterated previous promises to increase oil production, including in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where the Biden administration has stopped issuing new permits.
Trump accused Harris of supporting a ban on fracking and claimed that her stance would be a significant disadvantage in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, where fracking is common.
While Harris opposed new fossil fuel infrastructure projects during her 2019 presidential run and the Biden administration unsuccessfully attempted to ban fracking on federal lands, her campaign now says she no longer supports a ban.
During the speech, Trump brought financier and informal economic adviser Scott Bessent on stage. The former president praised Bessent’s financial expertise and physical appearance, with several Trump allies considering Bessent a top contender for treasury secretary if Trump wins in November.
Before Trump’s Asheville event, Harris’s campaign communications director Michael Tyler released a memo accusing Trump of neglecting the middle class by opposing union protections and supporting corporate tax cuts, among other policies.
On Friday, Harris will visit North Carolina to discuss economic policy in a speech in Raleigh. She plans to present a strategy “to lower costs for middle-class families and address corporate price-gouging,” according to a campaign official.
Trump currently holds a narrow lead in North Carolina, based on an average maintained by Real Clear Politics, though Harris is close behind. This marks a significant change from a month ago when Biden was the candidate, and Republicans seemed poised to win the state, shifting their focus to traditionally Democratic states like Minnesota and Virginia.
NANCY MBAMALU
Source: Reuters
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