Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called Kamala Harris a “b---h” in private, according to a report by The New York Times, as the former president’s polling numbers plunge, and his campaign struggles to stick to an attack strategy against the sitting vice president.
In a statement to NYT, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said “that is not language President Trump has used to describe Kamala, and it’s not how the campaign would characterize her.”
However, sources close to Trump told NYT that he has called Harris out of her name on multiple occasions—frustrated by her campaign’s control of the news cycle over the last three weeks.
On July 25, Trump sent angry texts to Miriam Adelson, widow of right-wing magnate Sheldon Andelson, complaining that the people running the super PAC, Preserve America, weren’t real Republicans, reported NYT. Sources said Trump called them “RINOS” or Republicans In Name Only.
“The texts were particularly jarring because Mrs. Adelson and Mr. Trump had a friendly meeting just a week earlier at the Republican National Convention,” NYT reported, which added that Adelson’s PAC was spending around $18 million a week on ads for Trump at the time.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump stands with Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance.
Tom Brenner/Reuters
JD Vance’s “couch” and “childless cat ladies” baggage has also reportedly not sat well with donors. And when asked about the Democrats trying to paint Republicans as “weird” in the presidential election, Trump reportedly responded, “Not about me. They’re saying that about JD.”
In response, Trump advised Vance to go on the attack on the campaign trail against Harris and her VP pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Vance’s recent attacks against Walz reportedly earned him praise from Trump, “according to two people who have spoken to Mr. Trump,” reported NYT.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Carlos Osorio/Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
As the main obstacle standing in the way of Trump’s election chances, Harris has proved that she is no President Joe Biden. She is younger, has more stamina—and how this has reflected in her polling has kept Trump’s campaign team on their toes, reported NYT.
Harris “has gotten the equivalent of the largest in-kind contribution of free media I think I have ever seen in all the years I’ve been doing presidential campaigns,” Trump campaign’s chief pollster Tony Fabrizio told NYT.
On Saturday, NYT reported that Harris currently has a lead over Trump in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
“Two private polls conducted in Ohio recently by Republican pollsters—which Mr. Trump carried in 2020 with 53 percent of the vote—showed him receiving less than 50 percent of the vote against Ms. Harris in the state, according to a person with direct knowledge of the data,” NYT reported.
Overall, despite Trump’s attempts to denigrate Harris with names, such as “Laffin’ Kamala” and “Crazy Kamala,” as well as mocking her laugh and calling her “crooked,” and questioning her Blackness, sources told NYT that Trump seemed to be struggling with how quickly things have changed for him, his campaign and his safety.
“Mr. Trump has also been whipsawed by a seven-week roller-coaster-ride of events: an attempt on his life, the selection of a running mate, a nominating convention, his opponent’s withdrawal from the race,” reported NYT.
Adding to Trump’s challenges are “a potential Iranian assassination threat against him and new layers of security that have brought a bunker-like feel to his properties, more than at any time since he was in the White House,” reported NYT.
When Trump was asked by real estate scion Harrison LeFrak about how he planned to take back the narrative from Democrats and paint himself as a positive option for America’s future, NYT reported that Trump said: “I am who I am.”