Senior advisers to former President Donald J. Trump have been working more attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris into the speeches and messaging planned for the Republican National Convention next week, according to two people briefed on the deliberations who were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Most of Mr. Trump’s advisers privately hope that Mr. Biden stays in the race but they are eager to define Ms. Harris, seeking to drive down her approval ratings in case the president chooses to drop out.
The team working on the convention materials has workshopped anti-Harris messages like calling her the “border czar” — exaggerating her role in the Biden administration’s unpopular immigration policies — and also trying to portray her as part of the “radical left,” the two people said. They have also been working on signs and videos that include attacks on Ms. Harris, according to two other people briefed on the planning.
Mr. Trump himself has started to test out the anti-Harris messaging. At a rally at one of his Florida golf clubs on Tuesday, he spent more time talking about Ms. Harris than in any previous outing so far this year.
He mispronounced her name by stressing the wrong syllable, unveiled a new nickname, “Laffin’ Kamala,” and, in an effort to belittle Ms. Harris as unfit to lead, he claimed that Mr. Biden’s decision to pick her as his vice president was the only thing protecting his job.
“If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent” as his No. 2, Mr. Trump said, “they would have bounced him from office years ago.”
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, pointed to the presumptive nominee’s criticism of Ms. Harris in his recent rally speech and added, “Joe Biden is known for weakness and incompetence, while Kamala Harris is known for weakness, incompetence and radical liberal ideology.”
Brian Fallon, Ms. Harris’s campaign communications director, said in a statement: “Vice President Harris is proud to be President Biden’s running mate. As a former district attorney and attorney general, she has stood up to fraudsters and felons like Donald Trump her entire career. Trump is lying about the vice president because she has been prosecuting the case against him on the biggest issues in the race.”
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