Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sought to regain attention – and momentum – in his race against the Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday, hosting a series of debates and answering questions from reporters for more than an hour at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Trump’s effort to regain the spotlight comes after recent weeks dramatically changed a presidential race that the former president had previously led. Democrats have been strengthened by President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside, and polls show a surge in support for Harris and the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, his running mate presented earlier this week.
While Trump insisted he preferred to run against Harris and still believed the fundamentals of the race had not changed, the push, which included not only a public press conference issuing the debate challenge but also a separate private briefing for reporters and senior campaign officials, underscored your effort for turning the page on Harris’s honeymoon period.
The Republican nominee repeatedly insulted Harris’s intelligence, said he planned to air ads attacking her record on inflation and immigration and criticized the vice president for avoiding media interviews since she won the Democratic nomination. But he also made clear that he hoped the presidential debates could change the dynamics of a race that had turned against him.
Trump said he had agreed to debate Fox News, ABC News and NBC News in September, as well as a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News.
Harris’ campaign had previously agreed to a debate with ABC News on Sept. 10, and the network said it expected that debate, at least, to take place. But The vice president’s team previously ruled out the possibility of a debate with Fox Newsand Trump acknowledged that the details of the debates would still need to be worked out.
“They may or may not agree, I don’t know if they’re going to agree,” Trump said Thursday at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump’s campaign said its offer included a contest with Fox on Sept. 4 (which the former president had previously mentioned) as well as the contest with NBC on Sept. 25. Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump campaign strategy: ‘Abortion is not a big deal’
In a briefing for reporters before Trump’s news conference, campaign officials said they believed that the increase in the I support Kamala Harris would diminish as voters became more familiar with it.
Officials said they are better prepared to address voters in 2024 than they were in 2020. One official said undecided voters in key states are particularly swayed by arguments related to personal finances, inflation, social security and abortion in the united statesaccording to internal campaign polling. The campaign says it will specifically target men, moderates and Hispanic and Asian voters.
Trump said he believed the issue many consider his greatest vulnerability — abortion — would not play a major role in the election. He said he believed voters were satisfied with his support for exceptions in cases of rape, incest and maternal health, and he preferred to allow that states would decide abortion laws instead of federal rights to abortion provided for in Roe v. Wade .
“I don’t think it’s a major factor right now, actually,” Trump said.
Trump also sought to dismiss concerns about his ties to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying the supporters who entered the building in an attempt to disrupt the election certification represented a small portion of his supporters and that he looked forward to a peaceful transfer of power next year.
“Of course there will be a peaceful transfer of power“, said.
Biden, in an interview with CBS News recorded Wednesday, said he was “not at all confident” that violence would be avoided if Trump lost.
The news conference came after Trump sought to draw attention to himself in recent days by taking part in a series of unconventional events, including a lengthy livestream with controversial gaming celebrity Adin Ross, who also appeared with self-described misogynist Andrew Tate and an anonymous person who espoused neo-Nazi views. Trump also said he will grant an interview to billionaire Elon Musk on Monday.
Last week, Trump spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists, in a combative interview in which the Republican candidate suggested that Harris decided to identify as black for political gain. Harris, who is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, attended a historically black school, Howard University, and was involved in a black sorority.
