Donald Trump I was to campaign in a safe Republican state on Friday Kamala Harris In the battleground state that will likely decide the November election, she is causing upheaval with her growing influence, causing trouble for her rivals.
With the election just three months away, Trump’s light schedule — a rally every four or five days — is being compared to the hectic schedule of his rival, nearly 20 years younger, and his own vigorous campaign in 2016.
The 78-year-old tycoon has held just five rallies since the Republican National Convention concluded in mid-July — one fewer than Harris has held this week — and has not yet announced any events for next week.
Eight years ago, Trump was holding multiple events daily by August, but the oldest major party presidential nominee in U.S. history is venturing out of Florida for the first time this week to hold a rally in Montana, a state he could easily win.
The former president, who survived an assassination attempt at a rally last month, angrily dodged questions about his schedule at a hastily arranged press conference at his home in South Florida on Thursday.
He said he has been absent from battleground states because he was “way ahead and because I’m letting their convention play out,” a reference to the Democratic National Convention, which doesn’t end until Aug. 22.
– ‘Low Energy’ –
The Harris campaign called the former president “low-energy” — a favorite insult of Trump’s — while his former communications chief Alyssa Farah Griffin bemoaned Republicans not choosing a “younger, more vibrant candidate.”
Trump appeared on track to win the White House before Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, but Harris has taken a big lead since taking the president’s place at the top of the ticket and being named a running mate. Tim Walz,
His rise appears to have rubbed Trump the wrong way, who dismissed his rising poll numbers even as he held a more than hour-long news conference before reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
He complained about Harris’ coverage of large crowds and attacked her for avoiding interviews.
And one bizarre incident that made headlines was a helicopter crash that never happened in which he mistook former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown for Jerry Brown, who was governor of California for much of the 2010s.
He held three debates in September — mixing up the dates he was proposing — and accused Harris of being stupid and incompetent.
Former prosecutor Harris — who was praised for her forensic questioning as a senator and her performance in the 2020 vice presidential debate — immediately confirmed a date, a face-to-face bout with ABC News on September 10.
– ‘Earning every vote’ –
Meanwhile, Harris continues touring key states with Walz, including stops in racially diverse southwestern battleground Arizona on Friday and Nevada on Saturday.
Previously anxious White House aides have begun to reignite their enthusiasm about the possibility of victory in both states, which were downgraded this week from “lean Republican” to “toss up” by election forecaster Cook Political Report.
Harris campaign spokesman James Singer said the vice president is “earning every vote” with her travel this week.
“Our campaign is focused on what unites America: opportunity, freedom and love of country,” he said. “Donald Trump is too lazy to fight for anything other than himself or leave his country club — we don’t care.”
Policy has taken a backseat in recent weeks, thanks to Biden’s disastrous debate performance, Trump’s assassination attempt and Harris’ lead in the polls.
But Harris and Biden will discuss tackling inflation — a top concern for voters and a winning issue for Trump — on their first joint campaign trip to Maryland next week after the president steps down.
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