(Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump said Thursday he thinks he’s “entitled to personal attacks” on his Democratic rival, adding he’s “very angry” at Vice President Kamala Harris and questioning her intelligence.
Trump was asked during a news conference whether his campaign needs more discipline as he faces a Democratic ticket newly energized since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the party’s presidential candidate.
“As far as the personal attacks, I’m very angry at her because of what she’s done to the country. I’m very angry at her that she would weaponize the justice system against me and other people, very angry at her. I think I’m entitled to personal attacks,” Trump said at his New Jersey golf club, where he invited reporters in his quest to saddle Harris with Biden’s unpopular economic record.
“I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence and I think she’ll be a terrible president,” he added.
Trump also took issue with Democrats branding him and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as “weird.” Harris is “weird in her policy,” he said.
Trump stuck close to his scripted economic message for more than half an hour, reading from a binder in front of him in a news conference at his New Jersey golf club. Later, he veered into familiar stories he enjoys telling at his rallies.
“Kamala Harris is a radical California liberal who broke the economy, broke the border and broke the world, frankly,” Trump told reporters.
Trump was flanked by popular grocery store items, including instant coffee, sugary breakfast cereals and pastries, laid out on tables as he highlighted the cost of everything from food to car insurance to housing. Posters showed the increase of prices for grocery staples.
At one point, as Trump talked about the 2020 election, he noticed a box of cereal.
“I haven’t seen Cheerios in a long time,” Trump said. “I’m going to take them back to my cottage.”
As he turned to walk back inside, Trump did not respond to shouted questions about when he last went grocery shopping.
The event came one day after the Labor Department announced year-over-year inflation had reached its lowest level in more than three years in July — the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading.
But consumers are still feeling the impact of higher prices — something Trump’s campaign is banking on to motivate voters this fall.
A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Americans are more likely to trust Trump over Harris when it comes to handling the economy and immigration, issues he has put at the center of his case for returning to the White House.
Harris is planning her own economic policy speech Friday in North Carolina, promising to push for a federal ban on price gouging on groceries.
Trump predicted he would beat Harris by more than he would have beaten Biden by “once she’s exposed.”
“People don’t know who she is,” Trump said.
Trump spoke to the press as he has stepped up his criticism of Harris for not holding a news conference or sitting down for interviews since Biden made way for her.
“I think I’m doing a very calm campaign,” Trump said after being asked about criticism from Republicans who want him to focus less on personal attacks.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
