Trump Campaign Describes Harris' Surge as 'Suspended Reality'
Trump's advisers held a meeting with reporters in West Palm Beach as the former president hastens efforts to undermine Harris.
TroibNews 
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — A key adviser to Donald Trump described the current state of the race on Thursday as "suspended reality," arguing Kamala Harris will not be able to maintain her surge.
“We are witnessing a kind of out of body experience where we have suspended reality for a couple of weeks, and in that suspended reality, it's almost like Kamala Harris never met Joe Biden, you know, they were passing acquaintances,” said Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s chief pollster.
Fabrizio mentioned the campaign's intention to counter Harris's portrayal that “she has no responsibility for anything that happened in the Biden administration.”
Advisers to Trump gathered with reporters inside a hotel conference room Thursday morning, preceding a scheduled press conference that the former president will hold at his Mar-a-Lago club in the afternoon. The briefing was organized as Trump and his campaign aim to shift the narrative surrounding Harris’s rise to the top of the Democratic ticket. This change has led to Harris out-fundraising Trump and surpassing him in some battleground state polls.
Despite lagging behind Harris, Trump, who always expected to trail the Democrats in fundraising, ended July with $327 million in cash on hand and has consistently raised more than $1 million for 26 consecutive days, according to a Trump official.
An anonymous Trump official revealed that the former president decided to hold the press conference after learning reporters would be traveling to West Palm Beach to meet with staff. Trump spent the morning posting extensively on his Truth Social website about a variety of issues related to Harris, including his anger over media coverage of her rally crowd sizes.
Continuing his longstanding media complaints, Trump’s campaign provided reporters an eight-page spreadsheet of recent headlines about Harris that they argued were overly favorable.
“If Kamala has 1,000 people at a Rally, the Press goes ‘crazy,’ and talks about how ‘big’ it was - And she pays for her ‘Crowd’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website ahead of his press conference, adding, “The Fake News is the Enemy of the People!”
Harris has not given an interview since June, weeks before she announced her candidacy, and is under increasing pressure to do so.
Despite recent positive coverage of Harris as the new Democratic nominee, another Trump official called Trump a “ratings and earned media juggernaut” and expressed confidence that the “Harris honeymoon” will soon end.
“We hope and think that will dissipate in a few days,” the official said.
On Thursday, Trump’s team discussed the fight for persuadable voters, who Trump advisers estimate make up about 11 percent of likely voters in target states and are uncertain or not firmly committed to either candidate.
Trump officials believe Trump has an advantage on policy issues, especially economic conditions, with these voters, who are predominantly young, male, nonwhite, and politically moderate.
However, they also noted that Harris seems to be targeting these voters by distancing herself from some past policy stances.
“This is fertile territory for her,” a Trump official said. “And there is an absolutely reason why she is trying to run away from everything Biden that is possible.”
According to the official, Harris “has been able to restore vote motivation for Democrats, at least temporarily.”
Trump campaign officials emphasized their targeted outreach to persuadable voters, aiming to highlight the stark contrast between Trump and Harris. They particularly focused on appealing to young undecided voters by having Trump appear on podcasts popular with young, male, and conservative audiences. Earlier this week, Trump hosted 23-year-old online streamer Adin Ross, who has gained prominence among young people by livestreaming video games.
“They’re already inclined to want to be for us,” the official said about persuadable voters in battleground states. “What we got to do is lock them in. We got to lock them in, and the bulk of them are undecided.”
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
“We are witnessing a kind of out of body experience where we have suspended reality for a couple of weeks, and in that suspended reality, it's almost like Kamala Harris never met Joe Biden, you know, they were passing acquaintances,” said Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s chief pollster.
Fabrizio mentioned the campaign's intention to counter Harris's portrayal that “she has no responsibility for anything that happened in the Biden administration.”
Advisers to Trump gathered with reporters inside a hotel conference room Thursday morning, preceding a scheduled press conference that the former president will hold at his Mar-a-Lago club in the afternoon. The briefing was organized as Trump and his campaign aim to shift the narrative surrounding Harris’s rise to the top of the Democratic ticket. This change has led to Harris out-fundraising Trump and surpassing him in some battleground state polls.
Despite lagging behind Harris, Trump, who always expected to trail the Democrats in fundraising, ended July with $327 million in cash on hand and has consistently raised more than $1 million for 26 consecutive days, according to a Trump official.
An anonymous Trump official revealed that the former president decided to hold the press conference after learning reporters would be traveling to West Palm Beach to meet with staff. Trump spent the morning posting extensively on his Truth Social website about a variety of issues related to Harris, including his anger over media coverage of her rally crowd sizes.
Continuing his longstanding media complaints, Trump’s campaign provided reporters an eight-page spreadsheet of recent headlines about Harris that they argued were overly favorable.
“If Kamala has 1,000 people at a Rally, the Press goes ‘crazy,’ and talks about how ‘big’ it was - And she pays for her ‘Crowd’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website ahead of his press conference, adding, “The Fake News is the Enemy of the People!”
Harris has not given an interview since June, weeks before she announced her candidacy, and is under increasing pressure to do so.
Despite recent positive coverage of Harris as the new Democratic nominee, another Trump official called Trump a “ratings and earned media juggernaut” and expressed confidence that the “Harris honeymoon” will soon end.
“We hope and think that will dissipate in a few days,” the official said.
On Thursday, Trump’s team discussed the fight for persuadable voters, who Trump advisers estimate make up about 11 percent of likely voters in target states and are uncertain or not firmly committed to either candidate.
Trump officials believe Trump has an advantage on policy issues, especially economic conditions, with these voters, who are predominantly young, male, nonwhite, and politically moderate.
However, they also noted that Harris seems to be targeting these voters by distancing herself from some past policy stances.
“This is fertile territory for her,” a Trump official said. “And there is an absolutely reason why she is trying to run away from everything Biden that is possible.”
According to the official, Harris “has been able to restore vote motivation for Democrats, at least temporarily.”
Trump campaign officials emphasized their targeted outreach to persuadable voters, aiming to highlight the stark contrast between Trump and Harris. They particularly focused on appealing to young undecided voters by having Trump appear on podcasts popular with young, male, and conservative audiences. Earlier this week, Trump hosted 23-year-old online streamer Adin Ross, who has gained prominence among young people by livestreaming video games.
“They’re already inclined to want to be for us,” the official said about persuadable voters in battleground states. “What we got to do is lock them in. We got to lock them in, and the bulk of them are undecided.”
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
