Former President Trump turned his attention to Vice President Harris during a campaign rally in Doral, Fla., on Tuesday amid chatter in the Democratic Party about whether President Biden should remain the nominee.
Trump levied his usual attacks against Biden, mocking him as incompetent and attacking him on immigration and economic policy. But he also included Harris in those attack lines on Thursday, a sign his campaign is preparing in the event Biden steps aside ahead of November.
“Whatever else can be said about crooked Joe Biden, you have to give him credit for one brilliant decision, probably the smartest decision he ever made,” Trump told supporters. “He picked Kamala Harris as his vice president. No, it was brilliant. Because it was an insurance policy. Maybe the best insurance policy I’ve ever seen.
“If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent they would have bounced him from office years ago, but they can’t because she’s gotta be their second choice,” Trump added.
He blasted Harris for her handling of migration from the Northern Triangle region, an issue she was assigned early in the Biden administration. Harris initially struggled with the topic, giving interviews that drew scrutiny, but she has secured significant private investments to help address the root causes of migration.
Trump also sought to tie Harris to Biden’s economic agenda and his efforts to incentivize climate-friendly technologies, such as electric vehicles.
“Joe, Kamala and the entire Democrat establishment have been caught red handed in the thick of the biggest scandal and the biggest coverup…it’s a cover-up. It’s the biggest cover-up in political history,” Trump said. “As you know, they are all co-conspirators in the sinister plot to defraud the American public about the cognitive abilities of the man in the Oval Office.”
Biden has faced calls from some Democrats to step aside as the nominee following his disastrous performance during a June 27 debate with Trump in which he struggled to complete sentences or land any significant blows against his opponent.
Multiple polls released after the debate have shown Biden trailing Trump nationally and in major battleground states, though a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll showed Biden leading in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Seven House Democrats have publicly urged Biden to stand down as the nominee. Several Democrats in the House and Senate have said Biden must do more to show he can aggressively campaign and make the case for a second term.
Harris has found herself in a complicated position. She has been a fierce defender of Biden as questions swirl around his future on the ticket, even as she is the most likely replacement should he step aside.
The vice president on Tuesday in Nevada defended Biden as a “fighter” and forcefully attacked Trump.
“We always knew this election would be tough, and the past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy,” Harris said. “But the one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter. He is a fighter. And he is the first to say, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”