Trump attempts to question the legitimacy of Harris as a candidate
The article delves into the motivations behind her attendance at the convention, with a key quote highlighting the skepticism surrounding the event: “Why is she going to the convention? Because it’s a rigged convention, obviously," he said.
TroibNews 
For former President Donald Trump, the 2024 race is primarily a contest against Vice President Kamala Harris and, indirectly, against President Joe Biden.
At a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump consistently placed blame on Harris and the Democrats for Biden's decision to drop out of the race over a month ago, thus questioning Harris’ legitimacy as a candidate while also spotlighting his past opponent.
He claimed, without providing evidence, that the forthcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago is “rigged” because Biden will not be on the ticket. Trump also suggested that Biden is a poorer debater than Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke, and accused the media of favoring the president.
“What happened to Biden? I was running against Biden and now I’m running against someone else,” Trump recounted. “I said, ‘Who am I running against, Harris?’ I said, ‘Who the hell is Harris?’”
Trump’s rally occurred just days before the convention and underscored his strategy to portray Harris as a “radical left lunatic,” emphasizing her inability to win the presidency in the 2020 election. Despite this, Harris is now on the ticket and is enjoying significant support from her party.
Since Harris entered the race, she has narrowed the polling gap with Trump in several surveys. A new poll from the New York Times revealed a resurgence for Harris in key battlegrounds, including Arizona, where she leads by approximately 5 points. In Pennsylvania, she was found to be ahead by 4 points in the same survey conducted the previous week.
The evolving dynamic of the race has left Trump at times struggling to maintain a consistent critique of Harris. He has labeled her as “dumb” and a “socialist lunatic,” even asserting on Saturday that he considers himself better looking than she is.
“Why is she going to the convention? Because it’s a rigged convention, obviously. She got no votes,” Trump remarked.
Trump specifically critiqued Harris' economic proposal, which she unveiled during a rally in North Carolina. Her plan includes offering up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance for eligible first-time homebuyers, a $6,000 provision for families for each child in their first year, and a ban on grocery "price-gouging.” The new plan is aimed at alleviating financial pressures faced by families, notwithstanding recent drops in inflation from its peak in June 2022.
“She says she's going to lower the cost of food and housing starting on Day One,” Trump pointed out during his speech. “But Day One for Kamala was three and a half years ago, so why didn't she do it then? So this is Day 1,305, we're at Day 1,305—so why isn't she doing it now?”
While Trump acknowledged that Harris’ plan may “sound good politically,” he deemed it “very dangerous” and “communist.” He offered limited details on his approach to lowering prices but praised tariffs and stated he would immediately issue an executive order “directing every Cabinet secretary and agency head to use every power we have to drive prices down, but we’re going to drive them down in a capitalist way, not in a communist way.”
This rally in Wilkes-Barre marks the beginning of a week of counterprogramming against the Democratic National Convention. The Trump campaign has plans to circulate various themes each day while holding events in battleground states. Both Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, are scheduled to return to Pennsylvania on Monday for economic-focused events.
Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral college votes, is seen as a critical target for both campaigns, and substantial investments in advertising and outreach have been made in the state by both sides.
On Sunday, Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will embark on a bus tour through western Pennsylvania, starting in Pittsburgh, accompanied by their spouses.
As Trump’s advisors urge him to shift focus away from personal attacks on Harris in favor of evaluating her policies, he made it clear at his Saturday rally that he intends to continue with his current approach. He stated earlier in the week at a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club that he feels “entitled to personal attacks.”
“People say don’t use bad language. They say please don’t call people stupid, but they are stupid people. How else do you describe it?” Trump stated. “She’s a socialist lunatic. That’s the other thing, please sir, please don’t call her a lunatic, but that’s what she is, she’s a lunatic.”
He further mocked her laugh and speculated that it might be the reason she hasn’t conducted any sit-down interviews since late June.
“Don’t you sort of have an obligation?” he questioned. “You're running. This is her form of the basement. … She should at least be talking to the press.”
His reference to the “basement” continues a theme of criticism directed at Biden, whom Trump previously accused of not campaigning sufficiently during the pandemic.
In response, Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello remarked on the rally, labeling it as “another rally, same old show.” He emphasized that the more Americans hear Trump, the clearer the choice becomes: Vice President Harris offers a unifying vision, while Trump represents a step backward.
While in Wilkes-Barre, Trump also voiced support for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania, including Dave McCormick, who is contesting the U.S. Senate seat against incumbent Sen. Bob Casey. Trump encouraged his supporters to “give him a chance,” acknowledging the challenges of running against an established incumbent.
Trump also mentioned Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was considered as a potential running mate for Harris before she selected Walz. He claimed without evidence that her decision against Shapiro was due to his Jewish background, asserting, “I don’t think he’s good but they turned him down because he’s Jewish. That’s why they turned him down, and I’ll tell you this, any Jewish person that votes for her or a Democrat needs to go out and have their head examined.”
This marks Trump’s second visit to Pennsylvania since surviving an assassination attempt in Butler. He previously held a rally in Harrisburg and has expressed plans to return to Butler to honor Corey Comperatore, the father who was killed at the rally on July 13.
Trump briefly referred to the assassination attempt as a “horrible situation,” mentioning a recent conversation with Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, who he said praised the handling of the incident.
"He was so complimentary on the way we handled the horrible situation that took place recently, and I appreciated that,” Trump concluded.
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
At a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump consistently placed blame on Harris and the Democrats for Biden's decision to drop out of the race over a month ago, thus questioning Harris’ legitimacy as a candidate while also spotlighting his past opponent.
He claimed, without providing evidence, that the forthcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago is “rigged” because Biden will not be on the ticket. Trump also suggested that Biden is a poorer debater than Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke, and accused the media of favoring the president.
“What happened to Biden? I was running against Biden and now I’m running against someone else,” Trump recounted. “I said, ‘Who am I running against, Harris?’ I said, ‘Who the hell is Harris?’”
Trump’s rally occurred just days before the convention and underscored his strategy to portray Harris as a “radical left lunatic,” emphasizing her inability to win the presidency in the 2020 election. Despite this, Harris is now on the ticket and is enjoying significant support from her party.
Since Harris entered the race, she has narrowed the polling gap with Trump in several surveys. A new poll from the New York Times revealed a resurgence for Harris in key battlegrounds, including Arizona, where she leads by approximately 5 points. In Pennsylvania, she was found to be ahead by 4 points in the same survey conducted the previous week.
The evolving dynamic of the race has left Trump at times struggling to maintain a consistent critique of Harris. He has labeled her as “dumb” and a “socialist lunatic,” even asserting on Saturday that he considers himself better looking than she is.
“Why is she going to the convention? Because it’s a rigged convention, obviously. She got no votes,” Trump remarked.
Trump specifically critiqued Harris' economic proposal, which she unveiled during a rally in North Carolina. Her plan includes offering up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance for eligible first-time homebuyers, a $6,000 provision for families for each child in their first year, and a ban on grocery "price-gouging.” The new plan is aimed at alleviating financial pressures faced by families, notwithstanding recent drops in inflation from its peak in June 2022.
“She says she's going to lower the cost of food and housing starting on Day One,” Trump pointed out during his speech. “But Day One for Kamala was three and a half years ago, so why didn't she do it then? So this is Day 1,305, we're at Day 1,305—so why isn't she doing it now?”
While Trump acknowledged that Harris’ plan may “sound good politically,” he deemed it “very dangerous” and “communist.” He offered limited details on his approach to lowering prices but praised tariffs and stated he would immediately issue an executive order “directing every Cabinet secretary and agency head to use every power we have to drive prices down, but we’re going to drive them down in a capitalist way, not in a communist way.”
This rally in Wilkes-Barre marks the beginning of a week of counterprogramming against the Democratic National Convention. The Trump campaign has plans to circulate various themes each day while holding events in battleground states. Both Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, are scheduled to return to Pennsylvania on Monday for economic-focused events.
Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral college votes, is seen as a critical target for both campaigns, and substantial investments in advertising and outreach have been made in the state by both sides.
On Sunday, Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will embark on a bus tour through western Pennsylvania, starting in Pittsburgh, accompanied by their spouses.
As Trump’s advisors urge him to shift focus away from personal attacks on Harris in favor of evaluating her policies, he made it clear at his Saturday rally that he intends to continue with his current approach. He stated earlier in the week at a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club that he feels “entitled to personal attacks.”
“People say don’t use bad language. They say please don’t call people stupid, but they are stupid people. How else do you describe it?” Trump stated. “She’s a socialist lunatic. That’s the other thing, please sir, please don’t call her a lunatic, but that’s what she is, she’s a lunatic.”
He further mocked her laugh and speculated that it might be the reason she hasn’t conducted any sit-down interviews since late June.
“Don’t you sort of have an obligation?” he questioned. “You're running. This is her form of the basement. … She should at least be talking to the press.”
His reference to the “basement” continues a theme of criticism directed at Biden, whom Trump previously accused of not campaigning sufficiently during the pandemic.
In response, Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello remarked on the rally, labeling it as “another rally, same old show.” He emphasized that the more Americans hear Trump, the clearer the choice becomes: Vice President Harris offers a unifying vision, while Trump represents a step backward.
While in Wilkes-Barre, Trump also voiced support for Republican candidates in Pennsylvania, including Dave McCormick, who is contesting the U.S. Senate seat against incumbent Sen. Bob Casey. Trump encouraged his supporters to “give him a chance,” acknowledging the challenges of running against an established incumbent.
Trump also mentioned Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was considered as a potential running mate for Harris before she selected Walz. He claimed without evidence that her decision against Shapiro was due to his Jewish background, asserting, “I don’t think he’s good but they turned him down because he’s Jewish. That’s why they turned him down, and I’ll tell you this, any Jewish person that votes for her or a Democrat needs to go out and have their head examined.”
This marks Trump’s second visit to Pennsylvania since surviving an assassination attempt in Butler. He previously held a rally in Harrisburg and has expressed plans to return to Butler to honor Corey Comperatore, the father who was killed at the rally on July 13.
Trump briefly referred to the assassination attempt as a “horrible situation,” mentioning a recent conversation with Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, who he said praised the handling of the incident.
"He was so complimentary on the way we handled the horrible situation that took place recently, and I appreciated that,” Trump concluded.
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
