(Wilkes-Barre) Former President Donald Trump tried again Saturday to deliver an economy-focused campaign message, but the Republican repeatedly veered into nonsense and personal attacks, including twice saying he was better looking than Vice President Kamala Harris.
Donald Trump veered between his economic policy arguments and a series of insults and impressions of President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron at a rally in northeastern Pennsylvania.
As he attacked Democrats for inflation, he asked his crowd of supporters: “You don’t mind if I step away from the teleprompter for a second, do you? Joe Biden hates it.”
The former president’s rally took place in a part of the key state where he hopes conservative, white working-class voters near Joe Biden’s hometown will boost the Republican’s chances of winning back the White House.
His remarks Saturday came as Democrats prepare for their four-day national convention that begins Monday in Chicago and marks the party’s welcome of Kamala Harris as its nominee. Her replacement for Joe Biden less than four months before the November election has reinvigorated Democrats and their coalition, and presented a new challenge to Donald Trump.
The latter attacked M’s laughterme Harris said she was “not a very good speaker” and mocked the names of the CNN anchors who moderated his debate with Joe Biden in June.
PHOTO CAROLYN KASTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Donald Trump punctuated his speech with insults towards his opponent Kamala Harris
He also hammered his opponent on the economy, linking him to the Biden administration’s inflation problems and comparing his latest proposal against rising prices to measures taken in communist countries.
Donald Trump said a federal ban on price hikes on groceries would lead to food shortages, rationing and hunger and asked Saturday why Mr.me Harris had not worked to address the price problem when she and Joe Biden were sworn in in 2021.
“Kamala’s first day was three and a half years ago. So why didn’t she do it then? So it’s 1305e day,” Donald Trump said.
He mumbled through his remarks, which ranged from the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan to mimicking Mr. Macron’s French accent. But he took issue with how his freewheeling style is typically portrayed in reporting.
“They’ll say he’s rambling. I’m not rambling. I’m a very smart guy.” “I’m not rambling,” he said.
He predicted financial ruin for the country and Pennsylvania in particular if Kamala Harris wins, citing her past opposition to hydraulic fracturing, a process of extracting oil and gas.
PHOTO JEENAH MOON, REUTERS
Donald Trump sought to find a second wind in front of his supporters in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
“Your state is going to be ruined anyway. She’s totally anti-fracking,” he said.
In 2016 and 2020, the former president crushed his Democratic rivals in the county that is home to the blue-collar city of Wilkes-Barre. The Rust Belt region, home to Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton, offers hope to the Republican nominee and helps him expose Democratic vulnerabilities after the president ended his reelection bid and Kamala Harris launched her campaign.
Her campaign has tried to soften her stance on fracking, saying she would not ban it, even though that was her position when she sought the 2020 presidential nomination.
PHOTO JEENAH MOON, REUTERS
In 2016 and 2020, the former president crushed his Democratic rivals in the county that is home to the working-class city of Wilkes-Barre.
Some Pennsylvania Democrats acknowledge the challenges, but say the economy is what concerns most people in the region.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said in an interview that voters were “really motivated,” referring in particular to Harris’ rally in Philadelphia to introduce her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as well as 36 local offices, including several in more Republican parts of the state.
“The energy has clearly shifted dramatically to Vice President Harris,” he said. He argued that Donald Trump “is just going on rambling diatribes and making personal attacks against Harris.”
PHOTO KEVIN LAMARQUE, REUTERS
The good poll numbers are piling up for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, who would become the first female president of the United States if elected.
Sunday, Mme Harris is planning a bus tour from Pittsburgh, with a stop in Rochester, a small city to the north. His opponent has planned a visit Monday to a plant that makes nuclear fuel containers in York. His running mate, J.D. Vance, is expected to be in Philadelphia that day.
Donald Trump’s rally Saturday is his fifth at the arena in Wilkes-Barre, the largest city in Luzerne County, where he has won the last two elections. Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in neighboring Lackawanna County, where the Democrat has long promoted his working-class roots in Scranton.