By Nathan Layne, Tim Reid, Alexandra Ulmer and James Oliphant
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald TrumpThe campaign and some of its allies have launched a preemptive political attack on Vice President Kamala Harris, moving quickly to discredit her amid talk among some of her Democratic caucus colleagues of the possibility that she could replace her as president. Joe Biden at the top of the party’s 2024 presidential election list.
On social media and in a flurry of statements over the past 48 hours, Trump’s campaign and his Republican allies appear to be laying the groundwork for an all-out attack on Harris, should the 81-year-old Biden decide to abandon his re-election campaign after his lackluster debate performance last week.
Biden has insisted he will not concede the race four months before the Nov. 5 election, and Harris is fully behind him. But Trump’s campaign has little to lose by attacking the vice president now. Should Harris emerge as the nominee, she will likely do so in a weakened state.
Republicans have frequently criticized Harris, 59, during Biden’s tenure, but this week’s attacks were a sharp and seemingly coordinated escalation that appeared to be related to increased chatter about her possible replacement for Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, which oversees Republican elections in the House of Representatives, called her Biden’s “chief facilitator.”
MAGA Inc., a fundraising super PAC that supports Trump, meanwhile released a statement calling her the “invasion tsar.” In March 2021, Biden said Harris would lead efforts by Mexico and Central American countries to crack down on illegal immigration.
Republicans have seized on this to accuse her of failing to stem the flow of millions of migrants entering the United States illegally, even though she was never directly responsible for securing the southern border.
“Kamala Harris is incompetent. She has proven herself to be the weakest, worst vice president in history, and she has 100% supported Joe Biden in every disastrous policy he has implemented over the last four years,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign.
Biden’s campaign responded to mounting criticism from Republicans and did not address whether the vice president is ready.
“Vice President Harris is proud to be President Biden’s running mate,” said Rhyan Lake, a Harris campaign spokesperson. “No matter what false attacks Trump and his extreme allies make, she will continue to defend the Biden-Harris case and prosecute the case against Donald Trump.”
Trump’s camp’s attacks on Harris were reminiscent of a similar tactic used by Republican Trump, president from 2017-2021, to successfully undermine Ron DeSantis, his main Republican rival, before the Florida governor waded into his party’s 2024 primaries last year.
Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump adviser, told Reuters that Harris was politically vulnerable because of her role in tackling illegal immigration, among other issues that are part of extensive research the party has collected on her record.
TRUMPS UNUSUAL SILENCE
A former senior Trump White House aide who remains in touch with the Trump campaign said the new emphasis on Harris makes sense.
“If Joe Biden stays at the top of the ticket, given what we’ve seen, she becomes even more important. But if he steps aside, she’s the potential nominee. This is about defining her,” the aide said, noting her low approval ratings in public opinion polls.
Despite her consistently low approval ratings, a Reuters/Ipsos poll earlier this week found Harris to be as formidable a challenger to Trump as Biden. In a hypothetical matchup, Trump led Harris by one percentage point, 43% to 42%.
The shouting from Trump’s allies stands in stark contrast to the unusual silence of the normally loquacious former president. Since Biden’s poor debate performance, Trump has kept a low profile, making few public appearances or statements.
“This shows a maturation in the candidate himself. You can teach an old dog new tricks. He’s showing more discipline and control over his message,” said a senior Trump campaign adviser familiar with internal discussions.
Even before the June 27 debate, the Trump campaign had already turned its attention to Harris, running an attack ad online mocking her for repeating lines from her speeches.
In an online meme promoted by Republicans, Harris repeated the same phrase “not burdened with what has been” throughout his remarks.
Harris’s defenders say she has become a bigger target because of her leading role in attacking Trump on abortion rights and her vigorous defense of Biden during the campaign.
If Biden were to drop out of the race before the Democratic National Convention in August, there’s no guarantee Harris would be the nominee. But as vice president, she would likely be first in line. She would benefit from Biden’s massive campaign funds and would likely see a large portion of Democrats rally around her in an attempt to avoid a bitter intraparty fight.
And as the first black vice president in U.S. history, she represents a bridge to the party’s most trusted voting bloc. Her background and relative youth would be a sharp contrast to Trump, 78.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne, Tim Reid and Alexandra Ulmer. Additional reporting by Helen Coster, Jason Lange and James Oliphant; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)
