ASHEVILLE: Donald Trump lashed out at the Biden administration's economic record on Wednesday, just days before Kamala Harris is set to unveil her plan to address living costs in her first major policy speech as a Democratic presidential nominee.
In a rambling speech short on details, Trump claimed his Democratic rival would trigger another Great Depression if elected, promising instead to make wages soar and “make America affordable again.”
“With Kamala Harris and corrupt Joe Biden, the American dream is dead. You don't hear about the American dream anymore – it's dead,” Trump said in Asheville, a liberal enclave in the crucial swing state of North Carolina.
“His radical liberal policies have caused terrible inflation, decimated the middle class and devastated the finances of millions upon millions of American families.”
Consumer inflation is one of the biggest campaign issues, but new government figures released on Wednesday showed it slowed to 2.9 percent in July, its lowest level since March 2021, emboldening those calling for a rate cut.
Trump admitted that inflation was “starting to come under control” but also claimed that Harris “has sputtered while the American economy has burned,” possibly referring to “laughed out loud,” a word he has used to describe her laughter.
According to a new University of Michigan poll, slightly more Americans trust Harris to handle the economy than Trump, and she is leading or tied with the Republican in every battleground state except Nevada, according to the influential Cook Political Report.
'Not very smart'
The vice president replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket last month and has since been riding a wave of enthusiasm, speaking to packed stadiums and eclipsing Trump's leads in the polls, leaving him struggling to restart.
Republicans have been pleading with Trump to focus on the issues and refrain from resorting to personal insults, which polls show are alienating the moderate voters he needs to prevail in November.
But he ignored the advice, repeatedly mispronouncing Harris's name while calling her “an incompetent socialist lunatic” who is “not very smart” and has the “laughter of a lunatic.”
Large sections of Trump's campaign speeches have not matched reality, and there was a familiar feel to many of his fantastical claims in Asheville, including that there was no inflation when he left office and that he passed the biggest tax cuts in history.
He also falsely claimed that he couldn’t buy bacon, that it’s no longer possible to get car insurance, that he rebuilt the US military, that the pandemic-ravaged economy Biden inherited was “a gem,” that he had taken no action to cut health insurance for seniors while in office, that he made up a habit of referring to mass movements of people as “caravans,” and that there was a new category of crime called “immigration crime.”
“He lied, he rambled, he screamed,” Harris's campaign said in a statement.
'Bigger, better and stronger'
When he did focus on the economy, it was largely to attack Harris for policy positions she has repudiated, though he also promised some good news.
“Vote for Trump and your income will soar, your savings will grow, young people will be able to buy a home,” he said. “And we will bring back the American dream, bigger, better and stronger than ever.”
There were no details on how he would accomplish this, though he pledged to draft an executive order in his second term directing officials to “use every tool and authority at their disposal” to “defeat inflation.”
Trump made a solid political commitment to halve energy costs for voters within 12 months, although this immediately became 18 months before Trump appeared to back out of the promise.
“And if it doesn't work, they'll say, 'Well, I voted for him,'” Trump said.
Harris is scheduled to unveil a long-awaited plan Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, to cut health care, housing and food costs for middle-class families and tackle price gouging by corporations.
“Strengthening the middle class will be the defining goal of Vice President Harris' presidency,” Harris campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said in a statement.
