Former President Donald Trump is ready to intensify his criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris at tonight’s presidential debate, focusing on both her policies and lack of character.
In a call with reporters on Monday, the Trump campaign outlined the former president’s strategy, indicating a plan to hold Harris accountable for her role in President Joe Biden’s administration, particularly highlighting her involvement as “the last person in the room” before the controversial and deadly 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.
Earlier in the month, the families of several of the soldiers who died during Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan laid into Harris for the administration’s refusal to acknowledge those who died. The videos came after Harris criticized Trump for participating in a memorial service in their honor at Arlington Cemetery.
The Washington Examiner writes that Trump has been encouraged not to go after Kamala Harris as a person but instead focus on her failures as a leader.
The campaign also foreshadowed criticism of her when she was San Francisco‘s district attorney and California‘s attorney general, as well as the policy positions she adopted during her 2020 bid, which she and her 2024 aides have rescinded.
“Harris can’t defend her own record, let alone defending the records of everybody else,” Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said. “What has Kamala Harris stood for over the years, going all the way back to the beginning, with the point being is, these are dangerously liberal, liberal policy positions.”
Trump has levied several attacks against Harris since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, including labeling her as “incompetent,” “crazy,” a “stone-cold loser,” and “totally inept,” among other things. He has also increasingly referred to her as “Comrade Kamala Harris” as he seeks to portray her as a radical left-wing candidate.
Trump whisperers have encouraged him to stop criticizing Harris personally, from scrutinizing her intelligence to her laugh. But others, including former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, are imploring him to portray her policy flip-flops as a fundamental character flaw.
The two candidates have been preparing differently for tonight’s clash, according to The Telegraph. Harris has been “locked away in a Pittsburgh hotel rehearsing her attack lines,” essentially practicing a script, while Trump has been taking “policy time” with aides.
The outlet noted that “he is expected to use the event to tie Ms Harris to some of the more unpopular policies of the Biden administration, and its record on the economy and illegal migration.
The hope from his team is that Trump can channel Ronald Reagan’s 1980 debate performance, in which he asked voters whether they felt better or worse after the Carter administration. Mr Reagan went on to win the election that followed.
Ms Harris, meanwhile, is preparing for the debate with a stand-in Trump, an advisor who has been wearing a wide-shouldered boxy suit and red tie. A full debate stage has been set up at her hotel. and she has rehearsed lines on the economy.”
