Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, former President Trump’s running mate, told donors that taking on Vice President Kamala Harris was a “unique opportunity,” but acknowledged that his relative youth and lack of name recognition compared with President Biden also poses challenges in the race.
“We have a very unique opportunity, but we also have a very unique challenge, because, let’s be honest, 10 days ago, everybody had an opinion about the two candidates that were running for president. Love them or hate them, everybody has an opinion about Donald Trump and Joe Biden over the last eight years,” Vance said, according to a recording of the Ohio senator’s remarks obtained by The Washington Post, as he privately informed donors in Minnesota of Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and endorse Harris. “But what people don’t really know about Kamala Harris is who she is.”
The comments came as the Trump campaign continues to adapt to the new realities of the election, pivoting from running against a candidate whose age and intellectual ability are among voters’ biggest concerns to emphasizing Harris’ role in an administration that remains unpopular with the American public.
Harris closes in on Trump in election betting market
On the left is former President Trump, and on the right is Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance. (Getty Images)
According to the report, Vance told donors that the campaign needed to attack Harris’ past positions, such as her opposition to fracking, her praise of the “defund the police” movement and her record on the border.
The message echoed a similar sentiment expressed by Sen. Vance, R-Ohio, to reporters the day after Biden’s decision, when he pointed to Harris’ role in the administration as a weak spot for the vice president, especially when it comes to issues like border security.
“I don’t think the political calculus changes at all,” Vance said. “We were running against Joe Biden’s open borders, Kamala Harris’ open borders. Kamala Harris supported the Green New Scam. And, frankly, Kamala Harris defended Joe Biden when it was clear that he had been mentally incompetent for a long time.”
But Vance acknowledged to donors that taking on Harris also poses new challenges for the campaign, noting that Harris doesn’t have some of the “baggage” that Biden carried on the campaign trail.
“We’ve all been caught a bit politically off guard,” Vance said. “The bad news is that Kamala Harris doesn’t have the same problems that Joe Biden does, because she’s a lot younger, after all. And Kamala Harris certainly doesn’t have the same struggles that Joe Biden does.”
Flashback: Harris compares ICE to the KKK, says image of Border Patrol agents ‘reminiscent of slavery’
Still, the campaign continues to sound confident about running against the vice president amid Trump’s claims that he is worse than Biden.
“Kamala Harris is Biden’s appointee to be the ‘border czar’, but she has never visited the border and her incompetence has created the worst, most dangerous border in the world. [sic] “Poor approval ratings for a fine, intelligent young man named Donald J. Trump! Be careful what you wish for, Democrats,” Trump wrote on Truth Social following reports last week that Biden had dropped out of the race.
Trump adviser Jason Miller struck a similar tone in an interview with Fox News the day after Biden’s announcement, arguing that “Democrats are jumping from fire into fire.”
“They may have taken away one of Joe Biden’s problems, but they’ve inherited a whole new one in Kamala Harris,” Miller said.
Vice President Kamala Harris. (REUTERS/Kevin Mohat/Pool)
Democrats plan to confirm their nominees in a virtual roll call weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to avoid legal disputes.
Reached by Fox News Digital for comment, a spokesman for Vance insisted the campaign was excited to take on Harris, who has long been polled as unpopular with voters.
“Poll after poll shows President Trump leading Harris as voters become aware of her weak, failed and dangerously liberal policies,” spokesman William Martin said Tuesday. “Harris’ far-left ideology makes her even more dangerous than Joe Biden’s, especially in key battleground states that will decide this election, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.”
Meanwhile, Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chang told Fox News Digital that Harris is a “weak” candidate.
“The Democrats are in complete disarray after the coup that forced Biden out of the campaign, proving they are the real threat to democracy,” Chang said Tuesday. “The fact remains that Kamala Harris is weak, failed and dangerously liberal, and no amount of gaslighting by her or her campaign can erase her sordid record.”
A week after Biden decided to drop out, polls have shown the race between Trump and Harris intensifying, with Trump leading Biden by 3.1 points nationally in a Real Clear Politics polling average, but just 1.7 points behind Harris.
Harris is also trailing Trump by a large margin in the presidential betting market, with Trump given a 55% chance of winning the election compared to Harris’ 39%, according to the Real Clear Politics betting odds average.
Former President Trump speaks at a Buckeye Values PAC rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump maintains a 16-point lead, but on July 20, the day before Biden dropped out of the race, there was a nearly 43-point lead between him and Harris, giving him a nearly 52-point lead over Biden.
But Martin argued that Trump would have a big advantage if voters became more familiar with Harris’ policies.
Click here to get the FOX News app
“Her far-left ideology makes her even more dangerous than Joe Biden, especially in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that will decide this election,” Martin said.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
