Trump risks getting tables turned on him with Harris as new 2024 adversary | World News
The campaign also risks losing traction with some key constituencies, including young people and voters of color, where it had made inroads with some who now might be receptive to Harris or another Democrat | (Photo: Bloomberg)
Donald Trump, fresh off a convention where the Republican Party’s confidence in him was palpable, must now deal with a harsh reality: The 2024 race has gotten dramatically trickier to navigate with President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out.
Trump’s aides weren’t surprised by the exit on Sunday, and his campaign had been developing contingency plans to take on Vice President Kamala Harris since a disastrous performance by Biden in a late-June debate sparked calls for the president to abandon his reelection campaign.
The campaign also risks losing traction with some key constituencies, including young people and voters of color, where it had made inroads with some who now might be receptive to Harris or another Democrat. One of the strategies Trump allies plan to employ against Harris — to paint her as less likable personally — holds particular risk of alienating suburban women and Black voters.
And while Trump has kneecapped rivals in the past with cutting insults and demeaning nicknames, his attacks on women candidates have sometimes veered into sexist or racist territory that threatens to turn some voters off. He has referred to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas,” and called his Republican primary challenger Nikki Haley “birdbrain.”
Immigration Focus
Trump allies and advisers have shrugged off Harris, appraising her as a weaker candidate than Biden who is worse at one-on-one interactions with everyday voters.
The campaign believes it can beat Harris by playing up her leading role tackling immigration policy in the Biden administration. Trump’s co-campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, has called Harris the “border czar,” and has said he would love to use that message against her. That description of her was used repeatedly at the Republican National Convention, hinting that the party views it as a potent attack.
Trump himself had prepared to potentially run against Harris. He outlined his thoughts on a Harris candidacy in an interview with Bloomberg on July 9, just days before a lone gunman attempted to assassinate him at a rally in Pennsylvania.
“I don’t think it would make much difference,” he said by phone. “I see the same basic level of competence, and I don’t think it would make much difference. I would define her in a very similar manner that I define” Biden.
Several polls since the debate have shown Harris trailing Trump either nationally or in key states. Some political strategists, though, don’t see that as predictive of how things will stack up if she is officially anointed the Democratic nominee. The party’s convention is set to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago.
David Axelrod, the former Obama White House adviser, said Sunday that the “election changed in a dramatic way” when Biden decided to stand down. Trump is “a vulnerable candidate and can be beaten,” Axelrod said on CNN.
Little Time
After Biden’s disastrous debate, Trump officials first made the argument that the incumbent had won nearly all of the Democratic delegates during the primary, and legally it was too late to shift them to another candidate.
Now that Biden has made the decision, though, their focus is largely on figuring out how to best square off against his replacement. While the game plan is set for Harris, the plan for another potential Democrat is far murkier, said two people familiar with the campaign’s plans.
Two Trump advisers say the toughest presidential candidate to beat would be Michelle Obama, but there is no indication she would want to run and the former first lady has batted down any mention of a political career in the past.
The Democrats’ vice presidential nominee is also now a wild card. That complicates debate preparation for JD Vance, the Ohio senator just tapped as Donald Trump’s running mate.
And it has the potential to alter the ticket’s chances in key battleground states. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, an oft-mentioned name as a possible running mate for Harris, would complicate that state for the Republican, one Trump adviser says, but not push the swing state out of reach. Shapiro was quick to endorse Harris after Biden dropped out.
Trump allies and advisers privately think the sprint that Democrats are facing works in the GOP’s favor. The Democrats have very little time to coalesce behind a candidate and raise money before early voting starts in some states.
First Published: Jul 22 2024 | 10:50 PM IST
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