Carville says 2024 election comes down to ‘classy’ vs. ‘trashy’

Democratic veteran strategist James Carville weighed in on the current presidential matchup late Friday, saying the election — now less than three months away — ultimately comes down to the “classy” vs. the “trashy.”

MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle pointed to a recent vow from one of the party nominees that promised to cut “needless bureaucracy and unnecessary regulatory red tape and encourage innovative technologies.” She noted that the pledge didn’t come from former President Trump, but from Vice President Harris, who unveiled her economic proposals Friday.

When asked by the “11th Hour” host why Trump is still considered the “pro-business candidate,” Carville argued that the former president inherited a “really good” economy, while the Biden administration had to deal with a damaged one.

He also criticized the personal attacks the Trump campaign has levied against Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Walz and the GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) have sparred over their military records in recent days.

“I thought this race falls down to this it’s classy versus trashy, and we have a classy ticket, and they have a trashy ticket, and they’re criticizing, you know, honorable people who had an honorable service, and he can’t, you know, whine that he’s entitled to personal attacks,” Carville said during a panel interview Friday.

Republicans have pleaded with Trump to refocus his campaign messaging to be more policy-based after the former president upped his attacks on Harris around her racial identity, intelligence and even her laughter.

The former president pushed backed on that criticism Thursday in remarks from his New Jersey golf club.

“As far as the personal attacks, I’m very angry at her because of what she’s done to the country,” Trump said. “I think I’m entitled to personal attacks. I don’t have a lot of respect for her. I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she’ll be a terrible president.”

Carville praised the Democrats for focusing more on addressing the issues which, in his view, have improved recently. 

“Crime is down, border crossings are down, the inflation is down,” he said, referring to the price index, which fell below 3 percent for the first time since March 2021.

“I got news for you. You know, problems are not static. They’re addressed and they get better. We’re going to have a Fed rate cut and all probability in mid-September,” Carville continued. “But I think our party, I think the Democratic Party has two really classy candidates and they have two really trashy candidates.”