Former President Donald Trump on Halloween night was in the middle of insulting Vice President Kamala Harris at his rally in Henderson, Nevada, when he noticed a supporter in the crowd dressed as a “word salad,” an apparent dig at Harris.
Trump was discussing Harris’ recent interview on 60 Minutes and said she “gave one of these—you know, they call it a word salad, but I don’t like the term,” he said. “I don’t like the term. No, I don’t like the term.”
He then appeared to notice the woman in the crowd at Lee’s Family Forum and addressed her. “I think you’re very nice, but I don’t like the term,” Trump said as the crowd broke into laughter.
“She came dressed as a word salad,” the former president said. “Do you believe it?” He then pointed out another supporter, who Trump said “came dressed as a wall. Look.”
“And I have no idea who she is, but she’s a very pretty young lady,” Trump said of the woman resembling “a word salad.” The woman then stood up and spun around for the audience as they clapped.
“OK, sit down,” Trump said after a moment, while the audience continued laughing.
Some Republicans have been critical of Harris, saying she alternates between giving scripted answers and being evasive when asked about certain topics, like foreign policy and immigration.
Glen Bolger, veteran Republican strategist and cofounder of Public Opinion Strategies, told Newsweek that he believes Harris “can’t think on her feet, doesn’t know what she stands for, and has no original policy ideas. Her advisers are smart to keep her from the press. Word salads aren’t very tasty.”
Trump has also been frequently criticized for giving long, meandering answers to questions and holding rallies that frequently veer off-message.
“I mean, have you seen Donald Trump lately?” former President Barack Obama said at a rally with Harris in Georgia this month. “He’s out there giving two-hour speeches, just word salad.”
At his Nevada rally on Thursday, Trump continued discussing Harris’ 60 Minutes interview after the brief banter with the Halloween crowd.
During the interview, Harris “answered a question … she gave this long crazy—if you read the answer, you would say there’s something wrong with her.”
He then accused CBS News of swapping out that answer with another one Harris gave to a “meaningless question,” suggesting the move amounted to “election interference fraud.”
“And in fact, in honor of you, I just sued CBS today because of 60 Minutes,” Trump said earlier in the rally. “You know why I sued them? Because she was on and, it was called election interference fraud.”
Trump filed the lawsuit Thursday, accusing CBS of carrying out “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public.”
The former president’s lawyers claim that Harris’ interview was edited to “tip the scales” in her favor “as the heated 2024 Presidential Election—which President Trump is leading—approaches its conclusion.”
Television news networks regularly edit interviews for length and clarity. Trump and Harris are neck-and-neck as they reach the final sprint to Election Day next week. According to 538’s polling aggregation model, Harris has a 47.9 percent national polling average with Trump trailing at 46.7 percent.
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