Donald Trump on Friday sought to turn the page on a week in which he fell behind Kamala Harris and struggled to focus on policy issues rather than personal attacks on his rival in the US presidential race, promoting plans on taxes and health.
The Republican candidate, speaking at a Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas, talked about his plan to eliminate taxes on tips paid to waiters and other service workers. He also discussed his campaign’s efforts to woo Hispanic voters in Nevada, a battleground state that could help determine the Nov. 5 election and the election across the country.
The tax proposal, a pillar of Trump’s economic agenda, is an issue his advisers are pressing him to focus on, rather than his persistent personal attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris’ looks, Black and Indian origins and intelligence, warning that these attacks could turn away moderate voters he needs to win.
Later, at an event in Arizona, the former president reiterated his tax pledge, as well as promising to form a commission to investigate attempts to assassinate the president. He also said he would form a panel to investigate “the rise in chronic health problems and childhood diseases.”
Both proposals are apparent concessions to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who endorsed Trump at the event after dropping out of the race.
Trump’s remarks came a day after Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in a powerful speech, outlining broad foreign policy principles and expressing her sharp differences with Trump 11 weeks before election day.
Trump tried to mix up the four-day convention schedule with his own events around the country in an attempt to take some of the media attention away from Kamala Harris. However, his speeches on foreign policy, the economy and crime did little to distract Kamala Harris and she received very little attention – a surprising change for a politician used to loving the spotlight.
Republicans and their allies hope Thursday’s convention closing ceremony marks the end of the honeymoon period for Kamala Harris, who emerged as the Democratic nominee less than a month ago after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her.
During Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech in Chicago, Trump attacked her with dozens of posts on his Truthout social platform, calling her a liar, a Marxist and “Comrade Kamala Harris.” One post simply asked: “Is she talking about me?”
William Rosenberg, a political science professor at Drexel University, said Trump’s personal attacks on Kamala Harris reflect his frustration at facing a biracial woman, and the task is made more complicated by his history of making racist comments.
“His anger and his words speak volumes,” Rosenberg said. “He is headed down a path that is fraught with problems for him.”
Kamala Harris has taken a lead in polls since entering the election, with survey aggregator website FiveThirtyEight showing her ahead of Trump in six out of seven states.
She is also raising more money than her Republican counterpart. Her campaign told the Federal Election Commission this week that it raised $204 million last month, while Trump’s main fundraising group reported $48 million to the commission.
One question still to be answered is whether Kamala Harris will also be able to outspend Trump in the coming weeks. Biden, 81, has made relatively few campaign stops, easing the pressure on Trump to travel more around the country. That could change with Harris, 59.
Trump, 78, will travel to Detroit on Monday to address a convention of the National Guard Association of the United States and is scheduled to deliver a speech at the annual summit of a conservative women’s group in Washington on Friday.
Trump will hold at least one additional campaign stop between the two events, campaign spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt said without providing details.
The Kamala Harris campaign has not yet released details of their activities for next week.
Levitt accused the media of focusing its stories on Trump’s personal attacks, which make up a small portion of his otherwise policy-oriented rallies and speeches.
At a national security speaking event in Asheboro, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Trump said he had rejected his advisers’ recommendations to focus on policy, and he personally insulted Kamala Harris and other Democrats.
He recounted conversations he had with advisers at an Arizona rally on Friday.
“My talented people get paid a lot — not that much, really — but I call my people, I say, ‘They’re bothering me a lot,’ and you say I shouldn’t get personal. I have to get personal, don’t I?” Trump said to thunderous applause.
One outside adviser to Trump told Reuters on condition of anonymity that multiple advisers had told the former president that a continued focus on insults rather than policy could hurt his chances in November.
Republican strategist Doug Heye said Trump can still win the race, which he predicted will be closely contested, but to do so he must focus on inflation, illegal immigration and other issues, since polls show many voters give him high marks.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
