Former President Donald Trump re-entered the 2024 political fray with a solo press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday, his first in over a year. He used the occasion to cast doubts on Vice President Kamala Harris’s capability to handle the pressures of a presidential campaign, particularly in debates and media interviews.
“She can’t do an interview. She’s barely competent,” Trump said, targeting Harris directly. “She’s not smart enough to do a news conference,” he added, questioning her ability to handle public scrutiny.
With President Joe Biden no longer in the race, the dynamics of the Democratic campaign have shifted significantly. Vice President Harris, now the focal point of the Democratic effort, has been actively touring the country, holding rallies at a pace that far outstrips any expectations set earlier in the election season. This has altered the tempo of the campaign on the Democratic side.
In contrast, Trump has maintained a slower pace in his campaign activities. Aside from Thursday’s press conference, his major event this week is a rally in Montana—a state not considered competitive in the upcoming election. While Trump acknowledged his recent dip in the polls, he showed no signs of altering his campaign strategy. Instead, he chose to focus on Harris’s campaign approach, suggesting that her current popularity might wane as she faces more public exposure.
“She’s a woman,” Trump said when asked about Harris’s rise in the polls. “She represents certain groups of people, but I will say this, when people find out about her, I think she’ll be much less.”
Trump quickly pivoted to assert that Harris’s support is already declining. “I see it right now. I see her going way down in polls now that people are finding out that she destroyed San Francisco. She destroyed the state of California along with Gov. Gavin Newsom,” he said, using a derogatory nickname for the California governor.
Harris has yet to conduct formal interviews with the press since Biden exited the race on July 21, a fact the Trump campaign is beginning to highlight, punctuated by Trump’s decision to hold his own press conference. Speaking to NBC News at an event in Michigan, Harris said she’s “looking forward” to debating Trump on September 10 but did not address the additional debate dates Trump proposed.
Sources close to the Harris campaign indicated that Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are considering a joint interview, acknowledging the growing pressure for more media engagement. However, logistical challenges posed by their current swing-state tour have made immediate interviews difficult. A Harris aide suggested that a joint interview might take place “in a few weeks,” though it is unlikely to happen before the Democratic National Convention.
The Harris campaign also plans to engage with both traditional media outlets and social media influencers on platforms like TikTok and Snapchat to broaden their reach. Since Biden’s departure from the race, Harris has been focused on building her campaign, attending events, and selecting a running mate.
Despite Harris’s busy schedule, Trump’s team remains unconcerned about the optics of her energetic campaign compared to Trump’s relatively light calendar. After spending nearly a decade at the center of national political discourse, Trump seems confident in his approach to the 2024 race.