Trump capitalizes on Biden campaign struggles and proposes another debate, attacks VP Harris
Written by ABC AUDIO on July 10, 2024
(WASHINGTON) — At his first campaign rally in 10 days, former President Donald Trump jumped on the uncertainty of President Joe Biden’s campaign, offering Biden an opportunity to “redeem” himself through two propositions: participating in another debate this week and a golf match.
“So tonight, I’m officially offering Joe the chance to redeem himself in front of the entire world,” Trump said to a rally crowd at the Trump National Doral Golf Course in Florida. “Let’s do another debate this week so that sleepy Joe Biden can prove to everyone all over the world that he has what it takes to be president, but this time it will be man to man, no moderators.”
The former president also gave a nod to a notable moment between the two presidential contenders when they first faced off on the debate stage for the 2024 campaign cycle last month by also challenging Biden to a golf match.
Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer immediately shot down that suggestion, calling it “weird antics.”
As more Democrats start to publicly call for Biden to drop his reelection bid, Trump downplayed the challenges of having to face a different Democratic candidate if Biden decided to step down as the nominee, arguing that nobody would be able to beat him.
“Despite all the Democrat panic this week, the truth is it doesn’t matter who they nominate because we are going to beat any one of them in thundering landslides,” he said.
Trump also spent a notable amount of time during his speech attacking Vice President Kamala Harris as conversations flow about her as a potential Biden replacement on the ballot.
“You have to give him credit for one brilliant decision, probably the smartest decision he’s ever made. He picked Kamala Harris as his vice president,” he said. “If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent. They would have bounced him from office years ago, but they can’t because she’s got to be their second choice.”
The former president painted Harris as a “socialist,” going through her record as senator and vice president.
Tuesday night’s rally was a first for Trump’s youngest son, Barron, whom he introduced in the crowd.
“That’s the first time he’s done it. That’s the first time, right?” Trump said, after asking Barron Trump to stand up and praising him, saying he “might be more popular than Don and Eric.”
Meanwhile, former first lady Melania Trump — who held a pro-Trump LGBTQ group Log Cabin Republicans’ fundraiser in New York Monday night — was notably not in attendance. She has yet to attend a Trump campaign political rally this cycle.
As Trump encouraged early voting, which will kick off in two months, he told his supporters to make sure their votes were counted.
“Make sure that it gets counted. You can do that. Follow that vote because these people cheat like nobody’s ever cheated before. Frankly, they’re no good at policy, but they’re good at cheating,” Trump said.
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