Former President Trump on Tuesday called Vice President Harris a \u201cdummy\u201d after she appeared with what he called the \u201cdegenerates on \u2018The View.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, he mockingly compared Harris giving interviews to the sound of a vacuum and derided her as \u201cgrossly incompetent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, Trump told the Detroit Economic Club that Harris was \u201ddumber than hell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomebody said, \u2018You should be nicer. Women won\u2019t like it,\u2019\u201d Trump told supporters in Scranton, Pa., this week. \u201cI said, \u2018I don\u2019t care.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The array of swipes shows the former president is digging in on running an insult-filled campaign, shrugging off concerns that his deeply personal attacks on his opponent\u2019s intelligence, laugh and qualifications will turn off some voters and drive them toward Harris, who has urged the electorate to \u201cturn the page\u201d on Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat he\u2019s trying to do for all voters is paint a mosaic that she\u2019s unqualified to be the president of the United States,\u201d said Ford O\u2019Connell, a GOP strategist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But some Republicans have for months expressed unease about Trump\u2019s name-calling strategy, pleading with him to stay focused on Harris\u2019s record on immigration and the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats argued the constant insults will wear thin on moderate and independent voters who may decide they\u2019ve simply had enough of Trump after nearly a decade in the political arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you see these insults that have a kind of petty feeling to them, it really reinforces what people like least about Trump, which is that he\u2019s entirely focused on himself,\u201d said Jesse Lee, a former Obama and Biden White House official. \u201cNone of these insults really have anything to do with him looking out for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortly after Harris replaced President Biden\u2002<\/u><\/a>atop the Democratic ticket, Trump questioned her biracial identity by suggesting she \u201cbecame Black\u201d at a certain point in her career. Harris is half Jamaican and attended Howard University, a historically Black college in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a late September rally, Trump ridiculed Harris as \u201cmentally impaired\u201d and \u201cmentally disabled,\u201d comments that drew backlash<\/u><\/a> from even some Republicans who felt it was out of bounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has repeatedly called her \u201clow IQ\u201d on social media, and he has said the vice president has the \u201claugh of a crazy person.\u201d Trump regularly mimics Harris\u2019s speaking style during his own rallies, heckling her over the number of times she thanks the crowd before launching into her stump speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One Trump ally argued the personal attacks on Harris were fair game given the vice president and Democrats have sought to make the presidential campaign partly about Trump\u2019s character rather than about the issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The insults haven\u2019t been limited to his political opponent, either. Speaking in Detroit on Thursday, Trump derisively suggested if Harris wins in November, \u201cour whole country will end up being like Detroit,\u201d taking a dig at the Democratic-majority city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has attacked Haitian migrants<\/u><\/a>, claiming those who have settled in Springfield, Ohio, are \u201cdestroying\u201d the way of life for other residents there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Polling has shown Trump and Harris are locked in a tight race in each of the seven battleground states likely to determine the outcome in November. But recent polls have also shown Trump trailing Harris on key measures of who appeals more to voters, something that his insult-heavy approach is unlikely to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n