WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) 鈥� Former President on Saturday repeatedly swerved from a message focused on the economy into non sequiturs and personal attacks, including thrice declaring that he was better looking than Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump wound back and forth between hitting his points on economic policy and delivering a smattering of insults and impressions of President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron as he held a rally in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The former president has seemed to struggle to adjust to his new opponent after Democrats replaced their nominee. Over the past week, he has away from the policies he was billed to speak about and instead diverted to a rotation of familiar attack lines and insults.
As he attacked Democrats for inflation at the top of his speech, Trump asked his crowd of supporters, 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 mind if I go off teleprompter for a second, do you? Joe Biden hates her.鈥�
Joseph Costello, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, responded to Trump in a statement by saying, 鈥淎nother rally, same old show" and that Trump 鈥� resorts to lies, name-calling, and confused rants," because he can't sell his agenda.
鈥淭he more Americans hear Trump speak, the clearer the choice this November: Vice President Harris is unifying voters with her positive vision to protect our freedoms, build up the middle class, and move America forward 鈥� and Donald Trump is trying to take us backwards," Costello said.
Trump's rally in Wilkes-Barre was in a swath of a pivotal battleground state where he hopes conservative, white working-class voters near Biden鈥檚 hometown of Scranton will boost the Republican's chances of winning back the White House.
His remarks Saturday came as Democrats prepare for their four-day that kicks off Monday in Chicago and will mark the party's welcoming of Harris as their nominee. Her replacement of Biden less than four months before the November election has reinvigorated Democrats and their coalition. It has also presented a new challenge for Trump.
Trump hammered Harris on the economy, associating her with the Biden administration鈥檚 inflation woes and likening to measures in communist nations. Trump has said a federal ban on price gouging for groceries would lead to food shortages, rationing and hunger. On Saturday asked why she hadn't worked to solve prices when she and Biden were sworn into office in 2021.
鈥淒ay one for Kamala was three and a half years ago. So why didn鈥檛 she do it then? So this is day 1,305," Trump said.
To address high prices, Trump said he would sign an executive order on his first day sworn in as president 鈥渄irecting every cabinet secretary and agency head to use every power we have to drive prices down, but we鈥檙e going to drive them down in a capitalist way, not in a communist way,鈥� he said.
He predicted financial ruin for the country, and Pennsylvania in particular, if Harris wins, citing , an oil and gas extraction process commonly used in the state. Her stance on fracking, saying she would not ban it, even though that was when she was seeking the 2020 presidential nomination.
鈥淵our state鈥檚 going to be ruined anyway. She鈥檚 totally anti-fracking,鈥� Trump said.
But he also meandered, going from ripping the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 to doing impressions of Macron鈥檚 French accent.
Trump laced in attacks on Harris鈥� laugh and said she was 鈥渘ot a very good wordsmith鈥� and mocked the names of the CNN anchors who moderated the debate he had with Biden in June.
When he began musing on Harris' recent image on the cover of Time magazine, he commented on the picture's resemblance to classic Hollywood icons Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor and then took issue with a Wall Street Journal columnist remarking earlier this month on Harris' beauty.
"I am much better looking than her," Trump said, drawing laughs from the crowd. 鈥淚鈥檓 a better looking person than Kamala."
He also took issue with the way his style is typically portrayed in news reports.
鈥淭hey will say he鈥檚 rambling. I don鈥檛 ramble. I鈥檓 a really smart guy,鈥� he said.
Trump鈥檚 Saturday rally was his fifth at the arena in Wilkes-Barre, the largest city in Luzerne County, where he has had victories in the past two elections. Biden bested Trump in neighboring Lackawanna County, where the Democrat has long promoted his working-class roots in Scranton.
On Sunday, Harris plans a bus tour starting in Pittsburgh, with a stop in Rochester, a small town to the north. Trump has scheduled a visit Monday to a plant that manufactures nuclear fuel containers in York. Trump's running mate JD Vance is expected to be in Philadelphia that day.
Some of Biden's loyal supporters in Scranton, a former industrial city of 76,000, were upset to see party leaders put pressure on the president to step aside.
Diane Munley, 63, says she called dozens of members of Congress to vouch for Biden. Munley eventually came to terms with Biden's decision and is now very supportive of Harris.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 deny the enthusiasm that鈥檚 been going on with this ticket right now. I am so into it,鈥� Munley said. 鈥淚t just wasn鈥檛 happening with Joe, and I couldn鈥檛 see it at the time because I was so connected to him.鈥�
Robert A. Bridy, 64, a laborer from Shamokin, Pennsylvania, traveled on Saturday to the rally to show support for Trump. He said the election feels tight in this state and added that his union and a close friend are trying to convince him to vote for Harris and other Democrats, but he has voted for Trump since 2016.
Bridy called Trump a 鈥渨orking class guy like us.鈥� Trump is a billionaire who built his fortune in real estate.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a fighter,鈥� Bridy said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to see the closed borders. He doesn鈥檛 mess around. He goes at it right away and takes care of business the way it should be.鈥� ___
Price reported from New York. Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Darlene Superville in Arlington, Virginia contributed to this report.
Adriana Gomez Licon, Michael Rubinkam And Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
