Former President Donald Trump is facing calls from Republican supporters to focus his political attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris on policy critiques and to scale back his ad hominem insults and conspiracy theories. Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy emphasized the importance of focusing on policy rather than personal attacks which he believes could be a path to success for the Republican Party. Rallying behind the call for policy-focused critiques, former Trump White House advisor Kellyanne Conway and other loyal Trump supporters have urged Trump to refrain from personal attacks and remain on message, focusing on making policy contrasts.
As Trump tries to pivot his campaign against Harris, his talking points frequently devolve into personal attacks, including making false claims about her background, insulting her intelligence, and commenting on her appearance. This approach has been criticized as counterproductive by some Republicans, who argue that attacking her personally rather than on policy could boost Harris’ support among swing voters, particularly among women. Former Trump White House aide Peter Navarro emphasized the need to make the race about policies rather than personalities, and former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also suggested focusing on questioning Harris’ positions rather than her crowd sizes.
The Trump campaign has pushed back against criticisms that the former president has not focused enough on policy attacks, citing his recent conversations highlighting the weakness of Harris and her ticket. However, focusing on Harris’ policy positions has proven difficult as she has not yet released a formal policy platform. Despite the lack of detailed policies from Harris, her entry into the race has energized Democrats, leading to record donations, significant polling gains, and large rally crowds. In contrast, Trump has continued to focus on crowd sizes, erroneously accusing Harris of using AI technology to manipulate photographs of her rally crowds and claiming to draw much larger crowds than her.
Trump’s comments about Harris, her rise in the polls, and her background have drawn criticism from influential conservative figures, with The Wall Street Journal’s editor-at-large Gerard Baker describing one-third of Trump’s remarks as “false, obtuse or lunatic.” Despite backlash and calls to focus more on policy critiques, Trump has not shown any indication of changing his approach. As the Republican Party grapples with the dynamics of the presidential race against Harris, there is an ongoing debate about the most effective strategy to take against her, with some advocating for a policy-focused approach while others continue to support Trump’s more combative style.
