How Trumpworld Is Coping With the Kamala Harris Boom
Donald Trumpās campaign said it anticipated for weeks that Joe Biden would drop out of the presidential race. āWe have long planned for a change at the top of the ticketājust didnāt know when it might come,ā a senior Trump adviser told me. But Trumpworld likely didnāt forecast the speed with which Democrats would rally around Kamala Harris. āShe has been totally dominating,ā a top GOP strategist marveled on Tuesday after the Harris campaign reported it had raised more than $100 million since its launch. āBiden was a layup. Harris has a shot,ā said another prominent GOP operative.
It will take several days for polls to assess Harrisās standing in the race. But in the meantime, the Trump campaign isnāt waiting to unleash a multipronged attack. According to Trump advisers and sources close to the campaign, Trump and MAGA allies want to tie the vice president to Bidenās record while at the same time defining her as a radical San Francisco progressive who is out of touch with working-class voters. āSheās a weak candidate, terrible communicator, and has extremist views on everything from immigration to energy to the economy to national security,ā Breitbartās Washington bureau chief, Matthew Boyle, told me. The goal of these attacks, sources said, is to damage Harrisās appeal with voters in industrial Midwest statesāotherwise known as the Democratsā āblue wall. āEverything is about running up white working-class rust belt voters,ā Boyle said. āRemember, thatās how Trump won 2016.ā
This being the Trump campaign, the attacks on Harris are already turning vicious (so much for Trumpās āchangeā following the failed assassination attempt). On Truth Social, Trump called Harris āDumb as a Rockā and āa totally failed and insignificant Vice President.ā Meanwhile, MAGA social media accounts have been pushing racist and misogynist memes and tropes about the would-be first Black female president. The risk, of course, is that this scorched-earth strategy could alienate women voters and independents whom Trump would need in a close contest. A Republican close to the campaign said some donors have told Trump that picking J.D. Vance looks like a mistake now that theyāre going up against a Harris-led Democratic ticket. The Atlanticās Tim Alberta reported on Monday that some Trump allies fear Vance will hurt Trumpās ability to win swing voters in a tight race. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called any suggestion that Trump doubts picking Vance āfake news in every sense of the word.ā
Trump advisers said the Harris boomlet isnāt sustainable. āItās day one. It will pass,ā a 2020 Trump campaign veteran told me on Monday. Still, there are signs that the Trump campaignās outward confidence belies an internal recognition that Harris presents a bigger challenge than did a diminished Biden. On Tuesday afternoon, Trump dialed in to a media call on border policy, a forum usually reserved for campaign aides. He maligned Harris as a āradical-left personā and claimed she would āmake the invasion on our southern border exponentially worse.ā After his remarks, Trump opened it up to questions (Fox News got the first one, natch). Trump told reporters that heād be willing to debate Harris multiple times. He also claimed he doesnāt regret choosing Vance as his running mate. āIād do the same pick. Heās doing really well,ā Trump said.
Thereās also the question about money. With Democrat dollars pouring into the Harris campaign, Trump will need Elon Muskāhistorically a fickle donorāto make good on his reported promise to spend $45 million a month to elect Trump. (Musk has seemingly denied making such a promise, responding to a report about it with a meme calling the news āfake.ā) āElon is a blank check. Heās invested in this,ā insisted a Republican close to Trump.
Harrisās candidacy certainly faces a daunting task of fundamentally resetting a race in which Democrats are losing. But Republicans worry that Trump risks underestimating her. āShe has four weeks to reset,ā said one top GOP strategist. āSometimes you gotta be careful in politics [with] what you wish for.ā
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