(This story contains offensive language in paragraph 3)
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican Donald Trump falsely claimed he pushed Democratic President Joe Biden out of the race for the White House and made negative comments about Vice President Kamala Harris in a video published by the Daily Beast, prompting a fierce response from the Biden campaign.
Former President Trump was filmed on one of his golf courses seeking praise for his debate with Biden, after his lackluster performance a week ago led his fellow Democrats to call for his resignation.
“He’s out of the race … I took him out,” Trump says in the footage released Wednesday night. He then lashes out at Harris, who sources say would likely supplant Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee if he withdraws, saying, “She’s so bad, she’s so pathetic, she’s just so fucking bad.”
Biden, 81, told his campaign on Wednesday that he was still running. His campaign fired back at Trump, 78, in a statement.
“No, Donald. What is bad is taking away women’s rights; what is bad is losing an election and encouraging a violent mob to attack the Capitol; what is bad is attacking women; what is bad is not paying your taxes,” said spokesperson Sarafina Chitika.
Trump’s campaign stood by its words, with co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita responding to X: “There is nothing in this video that makes sense.”
Reuters has verified the location of the video as Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The golf cart Trump is driving has the number one badge and a presidential seal; he was previously seen in the same cart in a video file from the course.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)
