Former President Trump held his second hours-long press conference this month on Thursday, attempting to draw sharp contrasts between his candidacy, policies and campaign and his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, who has shunned media interviews since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
President Trump held a news conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey, home on Thursday. Standing at a podium lined with groceries, the former president and Republican presidential nominee focused his remarks on rising prices under the Biden-Harris administration.
“Harris just declared that fighting inflation would be a priority on her first day in office,” Trump said Thursday, “but Kamala’s first day in office was three and a half years ago.”
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“Where was she and why didn’t she do it? Why didn’t she do it?”
It has been 25 days since Harris secured the Democratic presidential nomination, but she has not held a press conference or given any interviews to the media.
Trump said Harris’ team was “hiding” her, and similarly said Biden’s team was “hiding” him.
“They’re hiding her in a way that’s no different than Trump’s, because I think she’s woefully incompetent,” Trump said, “and I don’t think people are going to believe what she says when they hear it.”
Trump political insiders told Fox News that the former president’s top advisers are quietly trying to persuade him to refrain from insulting Harris or questioning the vice president’s racial identity, and instead to position her as an ultra-liberal candidate and highlight her stances on the border, crime and inflation.
But Trump was asked about the “personal attacks” against Harris during a press conference on Thursday.
“I’m very angry about what she’s done to this country. She’s used the justice system as a weapon against me and other people. I’m very angry,” Trump said. “I think I’m entitled to personal attacks.”
Trump added, “I don’t have a lot of respect for her. I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence. I think she’d be a terrible president.”
“I think it’s very important that we win,” he continued, “and whether personal attacks are good or bad, she’s definitely attacking me personally.”
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – AUGUST 3: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump takes to the stage with Republican vice presidential candidate U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) during a campaign rally at the Georgia State University Convention Center in Atlanta, Georgia, August 3, 2024. Polls currently show a close race between Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. (Joe Raedl/Staff)
Trump said Harris “actually called me a weirdo. She called J.D. and I weirdo. He’s not a weirdo. He was a good student at Yale. He went on to Ohio State and graduated at the top of his class in his second year and did a whole lot of other things.”
Trump singled out Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, calling him a “weird guy” and saying Harris’s “policies are weird.”
“Who doesn’t want strong borders?” Trump said. “Who doesn’t want lower taxes?”
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“You know, I’ve watched politicians campaign all my life and I’ve usually been sitting on the other side, with these people, and what they always said was, ‘Cut your taxes,’ and this is the first time I’ve heard them say, ‘Cut your taxes,'” Trump continued.
Trump stressed that voters “don’t know who she is.”
“She’s a far-left socialist,” Trump said, “but more than that, she’s much more than socialism. I think when they find out who’s trying to destroy our country, they’re going to see something.”
Trump defended his attacks on Harris.
“I just want to win for my country. Some people say, ‘Why aren’t you being nice?’ But they’re not being nice to me,” he said.
They want to put me in jail. Please understand, they’re telling me to be good. They want to put me in jail. This has never happened before in the history of our country. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Trump has been addressing his own legal challenges, with many of the cases having been dismissed or postponed.
As for his own campaign, Trump said he’s glad he didn’t run.
“If our country was run by Democrats and it was great and we were really productive and great in every other way, I would never have done this,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t think I could win. I think I can win once they’re exposed for what they are, the far-left lunatics, I think I can win easily, and that’s what they are.”
Trump said Harris would “ruin our country.”
“And I hope that the people of this country, and I hope that they will, because I see it already happening,” Trump said, “but I hope that they can think for themselves, because if they think for themselves and they look at the destruction that would be caused by Kamala and this person who came out of nowhere, he comes from a state that I love, but that state is in a terrible state, and he’s the guy who signed a bill to put tampons in the men’s restrooms…he signed a bill to put tampons in every men’s restroom in the state of Minnesota, what the hell is going on?”
“What’s wrong with us? What’s wrong with us as a country?'” Trump said. “So if we have someone who does a great job, I’m very happy.”
Trump said he wants to win the November election but wants the country to “do really well” in the final months of Biden’s term, even if it “might make it a little harder to win.”
“I want this country to do really well. Country first. I want this country to be great,” Trump said. “If they’re great leaders, I’ll be the first to say they’re doing a great job.”
BUTLER, PA – JULY 13: Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is hastily carried off the stage during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said the gunman died after a gunshot wounded former U.S. President Donald Trump, killed one spectator and injured another. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Trump was asked why he felt God spared his life after the July 13 assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“It was a miracle,” Trump said. “God is involved. It’s a miracle, God is involved.”
“Maybe we want to save the world,” he continued. “The world is falling apart.”
Hours before Thursday’s press conference, Harris’ campaign issued a mock email advisory titled, “Donald Trump speaks incoherently and spreads dangerous lies in public, but not at home.”
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (left) and Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz have come under fire on social media for sharing an “embarrassing” video of them interviewing each other. (Rhonda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are speaking to voters, laying out their vision for the middle class and letting the American people know they will fight for freedom,” Harris campaign spokesman James Singer told Fox News.
“Donald Trump can talk to anyone, but he can’t explain his harmful Project 2025 policies, speak a coherent thought, or offer anything but insults and price increases for the middle class,” he argued.
