Senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman said former President Trump is “clearly jarred” by the momentum from Vice President Harris’s campaign following an energetic few weeks and the Democratic National Convention (DNC.)
Haberman joined CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday to discuss Trump’s call into Fox News and Newsmax immediately following Harris’s Thursday evening speech where she officially accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination.
“Look, he’s very reactive in all things when he is not in command and we have seen this over the course of the last nine years that he’s been in politics or in the political area,” Haberman said, highlighted by Mediaite. “He is clearly, you know, jarred by her.”
The former president offered his own live reactions to Harris’s speech on his Truth Social site and then told Fox News that she is not having success, despite the vice president gaining ground in the polls. He attacked Harris for what she didn’t mention in her speech, including the border and China.
Harris’s speech capped off a whirlwind last few weeks following President Biden stepping out of the race as Harris’s campaign has generated increasing excitement.
She’s broken donation records and hosted packed rallies across the country. The Chicago convention capped off the Democratic Party’s rollercoaster of emotions after the first presidential debate sparked panic and doubts remained about Harris’s ability to beat Trump.
Haberman said Trump is doing what he can to regain control of the national conversation, since all eyes have been on Harris since Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race.
“He is trying to point out the areas where she separated herself, at least by omission, from … President Biden, in terms of not tying herself to their joint record,” Haberman said. “There are a number of Trump’s aides who would like him to basically just be saying ‘Biden-Harris, Biden-Harris’ all the time, and so that’s his way of doing it.”
“We’ll see if he can sustain it,” she concluded.