Former President Donald Trump defended his personal remarks against Vice President Kamala Harris, saying he is “entitled” to do so.
Since President Joe Biden ended his presidential campaign and endorsed Harris, the former attorney general of California has been pummelling him in the polls.
In a recent NPR/PBS News/Marist study, Harris was found to be currently in the lead against Trump among registered voters, maintaining a solid 3% lead over the Republican nominee. Support was split 51%-48% in Harris’ favor. Support for the Democratic presidential nominee: Harris’ support has increased by 4 points since officially replacing Biden in the 2024 election campaign.
The 2024 presidential race is shaping up to be a razor-thin election.
— PBS News (@NewsHour) August 6, 2024
A new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll shows Kamala Harris with a three-point lead over Donald Trump nationally, within the poll's margin of error.@GeoffRBennett and @IAmAmnaNawaz talk to @DomenicoNPR for more. pic.twitter.com/l1fgESKZZQ
A poll published this week by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report showed that while Trump led Harris in Nevada, Harris is currently leading Trump in five out of seven battleground states: Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
They are tied in Georgia.
Trump has resorted to his trademark name-calling and, as he usually does with Black women opponents, attacked Harris’ IQ. He has also publicly questioned her Blackness and even her laugh.
Trump: "I'm entitled to make personal attacks" on Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/H2le80EY3P
— Bad Press (@bptnetwork) August 16, 2024
“She’s not, she’s not smart. I don’t believe that she loves our country, and we cannot have our country destroyed, because once that happens, it’ll never be able to come back,” Trump said.
“As far as the personal attacks, I’m very angry at her because of what she’s done to the country,” Trump declared during a news conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey property. “I think I’m entitled to personal attacks. I don’t have a lot of respect for her. I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she’ll be a terrible president.”
Trump took exception to Harris calling his campaign with running mate DJ Vance “weird.”
JD VANCE: "Hillary Clinton called us deplorables, and now Kamala Harris says we're weird."
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 3, 2024
"Let's talk about some things that are weird. We think it's weird that Democrats want to put sexually explicit books in toddlers' libraries." pic.twitter.com/hg4lx1CA9L
The former president’s campaign is attempting to blame the Harris-Biden administration for inflation despite economists stating the cause is mostly due to rising prices from a supply shortage imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which was further exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump claims if he is elected in November, he will lower taxes, raise trade tariffs and boost the economy overall.