GOP takes aim at Kamala Harris as her popularity rises: 'Biden's enabler in chief'
As President Joe Biden endures the harsh spotlight after his poor debate performance and subsequent gaffes during his highly anticipated NATO "big boy press conference," Vice President Kamala Harris is also bearing the brunt of former President Trump's jabs as she is portrayed as a potential successor.
In both scenarios, Harris would succeed Biden if he resigned from office, and she would also be a top contender for the 2024 Democratic nomination if Biden suspends his 2024 re-election campaign. A national poll released by CNN last week also suggests that Harris performs slightly better than Biden in a hypothetical matchup against Trump.
Trump, in a Truth Social post, accused Biden of having "choked like a dog" during the debate and offered his "congratulations" to the vice president as he dubbed her "Laffin’ Kamala Harris." Trump has given his opponents various nicknames in the past, like "Low Energy Jeb" [Bush], "Crooked Hillary" [Clinton], and "Sleepy Joe" [Biden].
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"Also, respects to our potentially new Democrat Challenger, Laffin’ Kamala Harris," he said. "She did poorly in the Democrat Nominating process, starting out at Number Two, and ending up defeated and dropping out, even before getting to Iowa, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a ‘highly talented’ politician!"
The former president has also focused on Harris during recent rallies, and even called her "so f-----g bad," in a leaked video of him on a golf course.
At his campaign rally Tuesday night, Trump took sharper aim at Harris, accusing her of being a far leftwing ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and slamming her VP record. Trump also suggested that Biden will likely stay in the race because Democrats won't want Harris as their candidate.
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"If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent, they would have bounced him from office years ago," Trump said during the rally. "But they can’t – because she’s got to be their second choice."
While the Trump campaign has not released any ads attacking Harris as a potential replacement for Biden, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) released an ad last week called "Careful for what you wish for," which called Harris "Biden's enabler in chief" and pinned her as the "architect" of the migrant crisis at the southern border.
"Is this who we want as president?" the ad said. "This November: Vote Republican. Stop Kamala."
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In recent weeks, both Biden and Harris have sought to shift focus to tying Trump to the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, not just as a likely distraction from the pressure facing Biden, but also because they see it as a winning message to moderate swing state voters who could very well decide the election.
"Trump’s advisers have created a 900-page blueprint — called ‘Project 2025’ — detailing everything else they plan to do in a second term, including a plan to cut Social Security, repeal our $35 cap on insulin, eliminate the Department of Education and end programs like Head Start," Harris said at a campaign stop in Nevada on Tuesday.
Trump, however, has distanced himself from the Heritage plan, describing some of its elements as "ridiculous" and "abysmal."
Leading up to the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle, Biden's mental acuity became the center of political discourse after a bombshell Wall Street Journal report — which the White House dismissed — revealed that many lawmakers on Capitol Hill had questions.
Biden has repeatedly said he will remain in the race.
Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.