Trump’s struggles speaking alarms allies who worry he’s handing election to Harris: report

Vice President Kamala Harris, Image via Shutterstock. Donald Trump, Image via Shutterstock.
Tom Boggioni
and
Raw Story
October 18, 2024Election 2024

There is growing concern among Donald Trump's allies that his meandering speeches, combined with his multiple gaffes, are taking a toll on his presidential campaign with little time left to repair the damage.

According to a report from the New York Times' Michael Bender, Trump has "struggled" to speak and the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris is cashing in on his problems as they highlight their theory that he is "unfit" to be president.

According to Bender, Trump allies "worry that Mr. Trump’s impetuousness and scattershot style on the campaign trail needlessly risk victory in battleground states where the margin for error is increasingly narrow.

Trump adviser David Urban admitted that, at times, the former president's inability to stay on topic makes him his own worst enemy.

“When he’s good, he’s great, and when he’s off message, he’s not so great. I don’t think anyone is really changing their mind at this point, but when he distracts from his biggest, broadest messaging, it’s counterproductive because the Harris campaign uses it to turn out their voters," he explained.

As Bender notes, every time Trump stumbles or goes off the rails, the Harris campaign has turned it into a campaign issue.

"Internal Harris campaign research showed that one of the most effective ways to persuade voters to support the vice president was by portraying Mr. Trump as unstable and Ms. Harris as a steady leader who would strengthen America’s security, according to two Harris officials who insisted on anonymity to describe private data," he wrote before adding, "In the past two weeks, the Harris campaign has flooded the airwaves in battleground states with a pair of television ads to underscore these themes. One spot features warnings from Mr. Trump’s former top defense officials to paint him as 'too big of a risk.' Another features endorsements for Ms. Harris from a bipartisan group of national security officials."

You can read more here.