Republican National Committee (RNC) co-Chair Lara Trump suggested Tuesday that her father-in-law, former President Trump, is just “joking” when insulting the intelligence of Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
“This is Donald Trump, and he has never tried to make himself out to be anyone other than who he is,” Lara Trump said Tuesday in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. “And obviously, he’s kind of joking around there with the crowd at a Trump rally when he says those things.”
The GOP presidential nominee has been criticized in recent weeks for ramping up attacks of Harris and Walz that target their cognitive abilities.
During a speech last week in Savannah, Ga., Donald Trump criticized the Biden administration, saying global leaders are laughing at Harris and that “she’s got bigger cognitive problems” than President Biden.
“Kamala is mentally impaired,” he said at a rally in Wisconsin, later adding, “Joe Biden became mentally impaired — Kamala was born that way.”
“She is a very dumb person, and we can’t do that. We can’t do that. I don’t want to be rude,” he said at a separate event in Pennsylvania.
Ahead of the vice presidential debate Tuesday, the former president told Fox Nation that Walz is a “total moron.”
Several top Republicans have pushed back on Trump’s tone, urging him to stick to the issues at his campaign events instead of attacking Harris’s identity and intelligence.
Welker asked Lara Trump what she had to say to GOP candidates who say the former president’s rhetoric could be hurting their chances in downballot races.
“Donald Trump has a history of helping all of the people, all the candidates on the Republican side of the ticket in downballot races,” the RNC co-chair responded, largely dodging the question. “He traditionally polls higher than all of the downballot candidates, and he traditionally lifts them up.”
Welker pressed her on the language of the GOP nominee’s statements and if his rhetoric represents the view of the Republican Party. Lara Trump said she believes Democrats are merely concerned about the former president being on top of the ticket.
“I think the Democrats are probably worried about losing the Senate and possibly not being able to gain any ground in the House,” she said.
The Hill has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.