As allies and fellow Republicans call on Donald Trump to stick more closely to policy and messaging, especially when it comes to his attacks that have been aimed at Vice President Kamala Harris, this week Ohio Senator JD Vance praised the former president for his off-the-cuff style.
“I think one of the things people actually love about Donald Trump in politics is he’s not unwilling to speak off the cuff. He says what’s actually on his mind. He’s not always filtered. I think that’s a good thing and part of his appeal,” JD Vance said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Vance, who spoke in Michigan just before a campaign event there, said most of the attention their momentary gaffe attaches to his own efforts is devoted to substantive policy discussion.
“If you look at this race, we’re talking about policy. That’s 90% of what we’re doing. And I think that’s going to keep on happening,” Vance said.
Since President Biden’s removal at the top of the Democrat ticket in 2024, Vice President Harris has experienced a surge which is now showing up as higher public opinion polls and fundraising contributions together with larger turnouts than usual.
Harris has been a target of Trump for issues ranging from inflation and crime to border security. But his attacks have also come in the form of pot shots during speeches, news conferences, and online.
According to reports, a number of advisers have urged Trump against more personal attacks and encouraged him instead to focus on Harris’s policy positions.
“You’ve got to make this race not on personalities,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. “Stop questioning the size of her crowds and start questioning her position.”
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, another 2016 Trump rival at the top of a presidential Republican primary list, commented saying, “The campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. It’s not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is. It’s not going to win. Talking about whether she’s dumb. It’s not. You can’t win on those things. The American people are smart. Treat them like they’re smart.”
Vance pushed back on all the comments saying, “If you listen to what Donald J. Trump says, if you look at what I say, we are prosecuting the case against Kamala Harris on policy.”
In response to Trump’s recent attacks, the Harris campaign has described them as “unhinged” while calling his most recent interviews “disastrous” and his agenda “dangerous and bizarre.”
