(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.) — Former President Donald Trump and his allies have quickly pivoted to attacking Vice President Kamala Harris since President Joe Biden on Sunday suspended his reelection campaign and the Democratic Party coalesced behind the president’s former running mate.
Both the Trump campaign and groups supporting him are accusing Harris of being “complicit” in a cover-up of what they claim is Biden’s decline making him unfit for office.
At the same time, they are painting her as an even more “radical” liberal.
Trump’s team and his allies have been fast in firing off new attacks on Harris, already running both television and online ads in key swing states.
A new campaign video released on Sunday shortly after Harris jumped in the race as a presidential candidate claimed Harris helped Biden “screw up the border,” emphasizing her role in the Biden White House as the “border czar” and accusing her of not visiting the border enough — rhetoric Trump has used in the past during his own border visits.
The Trump campaign has also launched new social media ads attacking Harris, highlighting her gaffes while describing her as a “far more radical” candidate.
Pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. too immediately launched an ad in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona, pushing unfounded claims alleging Harris had concerns about Biden’s mental fitness and worked to cover it up.
A source close to the super PAC told ABC News, “we will expand the buy,” adding that “there is going to be tremendous chaos within the Democratic Party and our job now is to seize on that.” The plan will be to continue to frame Harris as complicit in hiding Biden’s decline while also focusing on her record as a prosecutor and vice president, according to the source.
Trump himself has also been lashing out at Harris during his recent campaign stops as his campaign began privately polling Trump versus other candidates — increasingly name-calling her and attacking her credibility. Until recently, her name would only occasionally come up on Trump’s campaign trail — particularly during his border visits and while attacking her record on border security.
Just this past weekend, at a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Trump poked fun at Harris’ laugh — a personality trait his campaign has also spotlighted.
“I call her ‘Laughin’ Kamala.’ Have you seen her laughing? She is crazy. You can tell a lot by a laugh. She is nuts,” Trump said.
Even before Biden dropped out on Sunday, Trump long argued that Harris, along with other members of the Democratic Party, was secretly running the show because Biden was not fit to be president — an argument that they hope will help them as they attempt to point the blame on Harris for policies from the Biden administration.
“When you vote for Biden, you’re probably voting indirectly for Harris anyway,” Trump added on Saturday.
“We’re going to defeat ‘Crooked Joe Biden’ and Laughin’ Kamala Harris,’ and we’re going to take back the White House, and we’re going to take back our country,” Trump similarly said at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, two weeks ago — shortly before he was rushed off the stage after an assassination attempt on him.
A campaign rally at his Doral golf course in Florida earlier this month, Trump zeroed in on Harris’ border record, saying she has the “worst border” in history.
“As vice president, Kamala Harris was given two jobs — two very important jobs, actually,” Trump said. “First, she was put in charge of the U.S. border security at the border. And she never showed up. She’s never gone.”
He then attacked Harris’ role in the Biden administration’s foreign policy, claiming she “failed” to deter Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.
“Both times the result was a deadly failure,” Trump said.
The RNC Research social media account, managed by the Trump campaign and merged with the Republican National Committee, also posted several “flashbacks” on Sunday following Biden’s departure from the ticket, using Harris’ own words in an attempt to remind voters on what they believe is a failed record.
Again, those attacks centered around the claim that Harris’ was complicit in a cover-up as well as her role on the border.
“The biggest scandal in a generation — and Kamala is right at the center of the coverup,” one post by the Trump campaign suggested.
In another video posted, Harris is seen on the 2019 Democratic primary debate stage, raising her hand to suggest she would make illegal border crossings a civil, not, criminal offense.
As the Trump campaign attempts to capitalize on outlining Harris’ border policies, Harris has been on the campaign trail talking about abortion. She has issued several attacks on Trump’s proposed abortion policy.
Abortion bans have emerged as a divisive issue among Republicans since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overrule Roe v. Wade’s nationwide guarantee to access the procedure.
“And understand, the former president wants to pass a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state, but we will not let him,” Harris said last month at an event in Texas. “We will not let that happen.”
Harris continued, “America must trust women, America must honor individual choice, America must defend freedom.”
Hailing from California where she served as attorney general, the Harris campaign is also starting to tout her previous role in contrast to Trump’s convictions, framing the potential battle between the two as prosecutor vs. criminal.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has held criminals accountable her entire career — and Donald Trump will be no different,” Harris for President Spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “That’s the contrast the American people will see over the next 106 days.”
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