For brief periods, he railed against things like the rising costs of petrol, mortgage rates and housing. Then, he detoured toward criticising Harris’ running mate for approving a bill that put tampons in school bathrooms. He lamented that he “should have been a little bit easier” on Biden in their debate in June (Biden’s debate performance cleared the way for Harris to become the Democratic nominee).
Still, Trump hewed a bit closer to his prepared remarks than he typically does during his events, as he tried to lay the blame for the Biden administration’s economic policies on Harris – even though he had been blaming Biden for the same issues for years. Speaking for nearly 45 minutes before taking questions, Trump tried to argue to reporters that Harris was “a radical California liberal who broke the economy, broke the border and broke the world”.
Harris is expected on Friday to outline her economic policy and call for a federal ban on corporate price-gouging on groceries. Trump attacked her for wanting to impose “price controls” and insisted that her plan – which he has no details about – would lead to “food shortages, rationing and hunger”, a broad claim that cannot be checked without more information.
In a statement, James Singer, a Harris campaign spokesperson, said Trump “huffed and puffed his opposition to lowering food costs for middle- and working-class Americans and prescription drug costs for seniors before pivoting back to his usual lies and delusions”.
Trump again insisted he would curb price increases by boosting US energy production, even as the country is producing significantly more crude oil today than it did under his administration. He said he would terminate the Biden administration’s efforts to fight climate change, which he blamed for rising energy costs that he said were at the heart of inflation.
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And Trump said he would make fossil fuels and nuclear energy key efforts to bring prices down, reviving a familiar and exaggerated rant about how windmills left “thousands of birds dead” and were an eyesore on the American countryside.
“I want clean water,” Trump said. “I want clean air. But you can’t destroy your country over it.”
The event was Trump’s second news conference in two weeks, as he and his allies have criticised Harris for not holding a news conference and taunted her for not conducting interviews since she became the Democratic presidential nominee.
As he wrapped up, Trump again accused Harris of hiding from reporters, though she has fielded questions from reporters travelling with her. “I believe she’s grossly incompetent, and I don’t think that when people hear what she has to say, they’re going to buy it,” he said.
Recent polls have shown Harris gaining ground in key swing states, though the race remains tight. A New York Times/Siena College poll released last weekend showed Harris making major gains in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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