Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that “I’m entitled to personal attacks” against Vice President Kamala Harris — noting the fact that Democrats “want to put me in prison.”
“I think I’m entitled to personal attacks. I don’t have a lot of respect for her,” Trump said during a press conference at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ — rejecting criticism, including from former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), that he should stick to the issues.
“I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence and I think she’ll be a terrible president, and I think it’s very important that we win, and whether the personal attacks are good, bad — I mean, she certainly attacks me personally.”
Trump cited the fact that Harris, along with her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have ridiculed as “weird” Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
“She actually called me weird — he’s weird. It was just a sound bite,” Trump said.
“And she called JD and I weird. He’s not weird. He was a great student at Yale. He went to Ohio State, graduated in two years at the top of his class, and all of these different things. And we have this guy that’s running a failed, really, a very failed state, who’s had a terrible career. I mean, you have him saying ‘They’re weird.’ No, he’s a weird guy, and she’s weird in her policy.”
Trump added: “Who wouldn’t want to have strong borders? Who doesn’t want to have lower taxes? … I don’t think people know who she is yet.”
Haley, the ex-president’s centrist challenger in this year’s Republican primary, argued Tuesday that Trump risked alienating voters by attacking Harris, whom Trump has nicknamed “Laffin’ Kamala” in reference to her uproarious laughter at some public events.
“The one thing Republicans have to stop doing: Quit whining about her. We knew it was going to be her. She’s not going to give an interview. They’re going to hold out as long as they can. That’s their right,” Haley told Bret Baier on Fox News’ “Special Report.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates.
