Washington: Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has launched fresh personal attacks against his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, disparaging her physical appearance and insisting that he was "much better looking than her". The former president made the comments at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday while referencing a recent Time Magazine cover that features Vice President Harris.
"I'm much better looking than her," Trump, 78, declared after criticising Time Magazine's illustrator for being "too generous" with a portrait of Harris, 59. This isn't the first time he's brought up the topic, which also came up at previous rallies. “Time Magazine doesn’t have a picture of her. They have this unbelievable artist drawing her,” he said. “They took a lot of pictures that didn’t work out so they hired a sketch artist.” Trump spoke for nearly two hours quickly hitting on Vice President Harris' economic policy rollout before going off script and calling himself "better looking", The Hill reported.
The attack line from Trump was one of many against Harris and her Democratic allies at Saturday’s rally. Trump last week said he was "entitled" to personally attack Harris because he doesn't "have a lot of respect for her", as he dismissed calls from allies to refocus his campaign on policy issues in his bid to reclaim the White House on November 5.
Trump during Saturday's rally in Pennsylvania also attacked President Joe Biden for dropping out of the presidential race.
Pennsylvania is set to play a deciding role in November’s election with its 19 Electoral College votes up for grabs. Trump narrowly flipped the state in 2016, but then narrowly lost it to Biden in 2020. “What happened to Biden? I was running against Biden and now I’m running against someone else,” Trump said. “I said, who am I running against, Harris? I said, ‘Who the hell is Harris?’”
Trump also took several jabs at Harris’s economic plan that she debuted on Friday. "Yesterday, Kamala laid out her so-called economic plan. She says she's going to lower the cost of food and housing starting on day one. But day one for Kamala was three and a half years ago," Trump said. Trump, however, insisted he could bring prices down, without providing additional specifics other than the general push for expanding US oil production. “After causing catastrophic inflation, Comrade Kamala announced that she wants to institute socialist price controls,” Trump said.
Ahead of the Democratic National Convention beginning on Monday, Trump questioned why Harris is going, claiming that she never earned any votes as a presidential candidate. Trump continued to claim Harris "stole" President Biden's presidential bid, saying Biden is "angry" and that he "hates" Harris, ABC News reported. "Joe Biden hates her. This was an overthrow of a president. This was an overthrow," Trump said. Trump said he looked forward to debating Harris on September 10, claiming, "She'll be easier."
Trump has struggled to deliver a consistent message targeting Harris, even as Republicans argue they have a strong case against her on the economy and immigration. While the former president has at times focused on the issues, has mocked Harris' laugh and her intelligence. Trump also faced sweeping backlash after questioning her racial identity during an appearance last month.
In a statement following Trump's rally, the Harris campaign said: “Another rally, same old show.” “Donald Trump can’t sell his dangerous Project 2025 agenda to raise taxes on working families by $3,900, terminate the Affordable Care Act, and rip away our freedoms, so he resorts to lies, name-calling, and confused rants,” said Joseph Costello, a campaign spokesperson.
