Former President Clinton’s White House strategist Paul Begala says former President Trump’s stream of insults against Vice President Harris is “nutty at best and racist at worst” as a campaign strategy, as the vice president closes the polling gap, seizing on momentum.
“He’s an insult comic,” Begala said Tuesday in a CNN interview. “That’s what he does.”
Begala lauded Trump allies, including former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, for attempting to keep Trump on message and focus on campaign issues, but he noted Trump’s current strategy isn’t as effective against Harris as it was against President Biden.
“The problem is he’s up against a younger, more dynamic woman who has revitalized the Democratic Party,” he said. “He does not know what to, so he’s falling back on the same kind of insults and denigration and division. And I don’t think it’s working. I don’t think it’s going to work.”
Multiple notable Republicans have urged Trump to back away from insults against Harris and move toward discussions of policy. Haley called on the Trump campaign to zero in on demographics it can win in a Tuesday interview.
“I think the campaign needs to focus. That’s the main thing,” she said. “Look, this is a winnable election, but you need to focus. Who is your target market? Your target market is suburban women, college-educated, independents and conservative Democrats. That’s your target market.”
Former Trump White House aide Stephanie Grisham also encouraged the same Tuesday, but she doubted Trump can make the shift, given her experience on the 2016 campaign.
“Maybe for a week he’ll, you know, attempt to stay on message,” Grisham said in a CNN interview. “It depends on how tough his staff is being with him. But he will get bored.”
“It’s funny, because everything I’ve been hearing is, you know, all these people are saying to do the best version of himself. They want him to be a fake version of himself,” she continued. “Donald Trump is a bombastic narcissist, and he loves attention, and he is not going to be happy being quiet or being on message.”