'I just hate them!' Trump insider says boss swatted down urgings to lay off insults
Former President Donald Trump was implored by at least one of his associates to lay off the schoolyard name-calling of Vice President Kamala Harris — and point-blank refused, reported The Bulwark.
According to the report, laid out by veteran journalist Marc Caputo, an aide said that Trump shouldn't be using words like "stupid" and "dumb" to describe Harris — to which Trump responded, “This is just the way I am. I hate my opponent. I hate my opponents ... Hillary, Joe, Kamala. It doesn’t matter. I just hate them!”
He added that, with respect to Harris, “I’m going to be mean.”
So far, Trump has already come under fire for some controversial lines of attack against Harris, including questioning her biracial identity during a Q&A with the National Association of Black Journalists.
The problem, wrote Caputo, is that his aides privately fear Harris is anticipating Trump will try to drag her into the mud — and will turn it right back on him.
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The former president's intent to remain "personal and vicious," wrote Caputo, "comes as some aides and advisers have grown fearful that such an approach could very well play into the vice president’s hands."
In contrast to President Joe Biden's campaign of listing off accomplishments and focusing on Trump's threat to democracy, "Harris has structured her campaign on the Obama-esque pledge to move beyond the politics of division, and polls indicate it has so far resonated with voters. The clashing of these styles will come to a head on September 10, when Harris and Trump are scheduled for a debate on ABC," Caputo wrote.