As the Democratic convention marked a symbolic passing of the generational torch, former President Donald Trump remained fixated on his former opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s campaign has been pushing against Harris, launching a weeklong swing-state tour to counterprogram the Democratic convention by focusing on policy-based attacks. Despite feeling confident of a comfortable victory in November post the GOP convention, Trump finds it hard to let President Joe Biden go. He continues to post on social media about Biden, speculating about his stepping down and potential return to the race.
During his first battleground-state event of the week in York, Pennsylvania, Trump stuck closely to the economic and energy-focused remarks his advisers had prepared for him. However, he asked to add a section to the policy remarks a few hours before the event, focusing on a House Republicans’ report making the case for Biden’s impeachment. Trump insisted on adding paragraphs summarizing his view of the findings, referring to Biden as “Crooked Joe.” He also levied personal attacks against Harris, including against her father, a retired Stanford University economist, falsely calling him a Marxist professor.
Trump’s attacks on Harris also included falsely attacking her racial identity, mocking her laugh, and criticizing her economic policies as a “regulatory jihad” targeting power plants. He also claimed falsely that he won a classified documents case and was “totally exonerated.” In a state where natural gas drives much of the economy, Trump repeatedly criticized Harris for her past support for a ban on fracking, despite her campaign now claiming she no longer supports such a prohibition. Trump’s speech was aimed at portraying himself as an ally of manufacturing workers while attacking Harris’ policies and character.
The former president’s continued focus on attacking Biden and Harris follows his campaign’s strategy of countering the Democratic convention by focusing on policy-based attacks. Despite feeling confident in his chances of victory in the upcoming election, Trump appears to be nostalgic for his position a month ago. He continues to engage in personal attacks and false accusations against his opponents, seeking to undermine their credibility and policies. Trump’s remarks indicate a persistence in leveraging negative campaigning tactics to appeal to his base and criticize his opponents.
Despite being advised to focus on policy-based attacks, Trump maintains a fixation on personal attacks and spreading false information about his opponents. His remarks in York, Pennsylvania, show a pattern of attacking Harris, Biden, and their policies, while falsely claiming victory in legal cases and dismissing legitimate concerns raised by investigations. Trump’s speech reflects his ongoing efforts to undermine his opponents and portray himself as the better candidate for the upcoming election, using baseless attacks and misleading information to appeal to his supporters and attempt to sway undecided voters.
