Republicans sharpen attacks on Harris
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The Big Story
Republicans sharpen attacks on Harris
In the days since President Biden passed the torch, Vice President Harris has seen a surge of Democratic support – and intensifying GOP attacks.
© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
After Republicans spent their four-day convention knocking Biden, the Democratic ticket switch-up has thrown the 2024 race into uncharted waters and forced Republicans to sharpen their messaging against the vice president.
In his first rally since Biden dropped out of the race, former President Trump – now the official Republican nominee – repeatedly mispronounced Harris’s name while bashing her as a “radical-left lunatic” and labeling her “crazy” and “unhinged.”
“So now we have a new victim to defeat. Lyin’ Kamala Harris … the most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history,” Trump said.
Read more about the rally from The Hill’s Brett Samuels.
Republicans have worked to link Harris to issues at the border, calling her the “border czar” after Biden gave her a 2021 assignment to address the root causes of migration from Central America.
Some in the party have also used diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) politics to take swipes at Harris over her race and gender.
Republican Reps. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Harriet Hageman (Wyo.) have both called Harris a “DEI hire” — while Republican leaders urge their members to stick to policy arguments as they punch across the aisle.
Harris has already made history as the first woman, Black person or person of South Asian descent to hold the vice presidency and would break new barriers as the first woman president if she secures the Democratic nomination and wins the Oval Office in the fall.
Read more from The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Cheyanne Daniels.
Despite the attacks, Harris has seen a swell of Democratic energy and big fundraising numbers in the days since taking over Biden’s bid — though sparse polling on a Harris-Trump matchup suggests an uphill battle, with just over 100 days until Election Day.
Trump narrowly leads Harris by 2 points in the latest national polling averages from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill, and new data from Emerson College Polling/The Hill suggests he has the edge in several key battleground states.
Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, I’m Julia Mueller. Each week we track the key stories you need to know to stay ahead of the 2024 election and who will set the agenda in Washington.
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Essential Reads
Key election stories and other recent campaign coverage:
The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) voted unanimously to endorse Vice President Harris’s presidential run, becoming the latest labor organization to throw its support behind the likely Democratic presidential nominee. The major construction workers union joins the more than half-dozen national labor organizations to endorse Harris. “Vice President Harris has been a key partner in leading …
A producer of the popular HBO political comedy “Veep” says the most similar candidate in this year’s race for the White House to main character Selina Meyer is former President Trump. “The Selina-est candidate is Donald Trump,” David Mandel said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Wednesday. “Vain, worried about his looks, has a ridiculously better relationship with his body people than his own children, …
Democrats are accusing Republican operatives of boosting the campaign of Independent presidential candidate Cornel West in North Carolina and Arizona, as ballot access fights rage in key swing states. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) last week claiming West’s bids in Arizona and North Carolina took illegal in-kind contributions from Republican-aligned groups. …
The Countdown
Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
On Our Watch
State Republicans say Biden exit shouldn’t change down-ballot strategy
© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
In a new memo shared first with The Hill, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) says Biden’s exit won’t change their mission, and that state-level party leaders shouldn’t shake up their down-ballot strategy just because of the presidential-race changes.
“The Democrats may have swapped their standard bearer, but that shouldn’t change how state Republican leaders run their respective races heading into November,” reads the memo from RSLC president Dee Duncan.
The RSLC instructed state Republicans earlier this year “to avoid turning their state legislative races into referendums” on Biden, the memo noted.
“This turned out to be sound advice and remains our best way forward. The strategic decisions we have made in recent months allows us to build the infrastructure for success this fall regardless of the changes the Democrats are now scrambling to make.”
The group acknowledged the run-up to November “will continue to be an uphill battle thanks to the spending we are up against,” but stressed that state Democrats will still have to defend the Biden-Harris agenda.
“Now more than ever, we need to keep our foot on the gas,” the memo reads.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) this week announced a $2.2 million investment in battleground states at the state-legislature level.
Anastasia Apa, vice president of development at the DLCC, told The Hill that it’s “too soon” to determine how the Harris swap will impact down-ballot races, but cautioned that Democrats should not become complacent.
“Back in 2020 Biden won and at this level of the ballot we lost ground,” Apa said. “Democrats cannot afford a repeat of 2020. We cannot afford to ignore the funding and resourcing at this level of the ballot.”
In Other News
Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
Latina civil rights leader Dolores Huerta endorsed Vice President Harris’s presidential run on Thursday, adding a powerful progressive voice to her growing base of support. “I’ve known Kamala Harris for a long time — and I’ve seen firsthand how she fights relentlessly for Latino communities, working families, and for every American,” said Huerta in a statement. “Today, I’m thrilled to endorse Vice President Harris to be our …
Vice President Harris’s campaign hit at former President Trump’s interview on Fox News on Thursday, questioning his age and mental stamina. The campaign released a “Statement on a 78-Year-Old Criminal’s Fox News Appearance,” knocking Trump for his age in an effort to turn the tables after President Biden, 81, dropped his bid over questions about if he was fit to serve another four years in office. “After watching Fox News this …
Around the Nation
Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections:
JD Vance grew up in Appalachia, here’s why Tennessee’s Mountain Dew is a source of pride (Knoxville News Sentinel)
Coconuts, ‘brat summer’ and that laugh: The memeing of Kamala Harris (LA Times)
What We’re Reading
Election news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
My uncle Donald Trump told me disabled Americans like my son ‘should just die’ (Excerpt from Fred C. Trump III’s forthcoming memoir “All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way” via Time)
Conspiracy theories about Biden’s covid built on years of Trump rhetoric (The Washington Post)
Elsewhere Today
Key stories on The Hill right now:
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) has become the top attack dog for Vice President Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, against GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), ripping his regional rival as a “phony” and not “one of us.” The barbs between Beshear and Vance, a rising GOP star recently … Read more
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) filed articles of impeachment against Vice President Harris on Tuesday, as Republicans ramp up attacks while she launches a presidential campaign. The filing expands on previously introduced articles that target Harris’s record on immigration, a GOP rallying cry against the vice president. He added a second article … Read more
What People Think
Opinions related to campaigns and elections submitted to The Hill:
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