Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris is “entitled to personal attacks” and pointed to the fact that Democrats “want to put me in jail.”
“I think I’m entitled to personal attacks. I don’t have a lot of respect for her,” Trump said at a news conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, rejecting critics who said he should stick to the issue, including from former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-South Carolina).
“I don’t have much respect for her intelligence and I think she’d be a terrible president. I think it’s very important that we win. I don’t care if personal attacks are good or bad. I mean, she’s certainly attacking me personally.”
Trump pointed to the fact that Ms Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have mocked Mr Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, as “wackos.”
“She actually called me a weirdo. He’s a weirdo. It was just a one-liner,” Trump said.
“She called JD and I weird. He’s not weird. He was a great student at Yale. He went to Ohio State and graduated top of his class in two years and all that stuff. And we have a guy who’s run a failed, really, really failed state and has a terrible record. So he’s saying, ‘They’re weird.’ No, he is weird. And her policies are weird.”
Trump added, “Who doesn’t want strong borders? Who doesn’t want lower taxes? … I don’t think people know who she is yet.”
Haley, the former president’s centrist opponent in this year’s Republican primary, argued Tuesday that Trump was risking alienating voters by attacking Harris, whom Trump has dubbed “Laughin’ Kamala” after her loud laughter in some public appearances.
“What Republicans need to stop is to stop complaining about her. They knew she was going to be elected. She’s not going to give interviews. They’re going to hold out as long as they can. That’s their right,” Haley told Bret Baier on Fox News’ “Special Report.”
This is an ongoing story, please check back for future updates.
