Former President Donald Trump said Thursday he thinks heās āentitled to personal attacksā on his Democratic rival, adding he's āvery angryā at Vice President Kamala Harris and questioning her intelligence.
Trump was asked during a news conference whether his campaign needs more discipline as he faces a Democratic ticket newly energized since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the party's presidential candidate.
āAs far as the personal attacks, Iām very angry at her because of what sheās done to the country. Iām very angry at her that she would weaponize the justice system against me and other people, very angry at her. I think Iām entitled to personal attacks,ā Trump said at his New Jersey golf club, where he invited reporters in his quest to saddle Harris with Biden's unpopular economic record.
āI donāt have a lot of respect for her intelligence and I think sheāll be a terrible president," he added.
There is no evidence that Biden or Harris weaponized the criminal justice system to target Trump, who has pledged to retaliate with criminal investigations of Biden and his relatives if he wins.
Trump also took issue with Democrats branding him and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, as āweird." Harris is āweird in her policy,ā he said.
Trump stuck close to his scripted economic message for more than half an hour, reading from a binder in front of him. Later, he veered into familiar stories he enjoys telling at his rallies. A day earlier, he had struggled to make a sustained case for his economic policies during a meandering speech that his campaign had billed as a major policy address.
āKamala Harris is a radical California liberal who broke the economy, broke the border and broke the world, frankly,ā Trump told reporters.
Trump was flanked by popular grocery store items, including coffee, breakfast cereals and pastries, laid out on tables as he highlighted the cost of everything from food to car insurance to housing. Posters showed the increase of prices for grocery staples.
At one point, as Trump talked about the 2020 election he lost, he noticed a box of cereal.
āI havenāt seen Cheerios in a long time,ā Trump said. āIām going to take them back to my cottage.ā
As he turned to walk back inside, Trump did not respond to shouted questions about when he last went grocery shopping.
The event came one day after the Labor Department announced year-over-year inflation had reached its lowest level in more than three years in July ā the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading.
But consumers are still feeling the impact of higher prices ā something Trumpās campaign is banking on to motivate voters this fall.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Americans are more likely to trust Trump over Harris when it comes to handling the economy and immigration, issues he has put at the center of his case for returning to the White House.
Harris is planning her own economic policy speech Friday in North Carolina, promising to push for a federal ban on price gouging on groceries.
Trump predicted he would beat Harris by more that he would have beaten Biden by āonce sheās exposed.ā
āPeople donāt know who she is,ā Trump said.
A small crowd of Trump supporters watched his news conference from the periphery, occasionally cheering him on. But without a crowd of thousands to please with red meat attacks on his enemies, Trump stuck closer to his prepared remarks.
Trump continued lobbing insults at Harris and Biden at an evening event dedicated to Jewish voters, where he was introduced by GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson to an audience that included a Holocaust survivor.
Hours before the news conference, Trumpās campaign leaders announced they were expanding his staff, bringing a number of former aides and outside advisers formally into the fold. Corey Lewandowski, Taylor Budowich, Alex Pfeiffer, Alex Bruesewitz and Tim Murtaugh will advise the campaignās senior leadership.
Lewandowski was Trump's first campaign manager during his 2016 campaign. Budowich and Pfeiffer are moving over from MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC. Bruesewitz produces pro-Trump content for a large social media following. And Murtaugh was the communications director for Trumpās 2020 campaign.
Summer has been the time for shakeups in Trumpās two prior campaigns. This year's change comes weeks after the campaign itself was transformed by Biden's decision to end his reelection campaign and endorse Harris.
Trump gave his top advisers a vote of confidence Thursday, writing on his social media platform that his management team headed by Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles is āTHE BEST.ā
Trump spoke to the press as he has stepped up his criticism of Harris for not holding a news conference or sitting down for interviews since Biden made way for her.
āI think Iām doing a very calm campaign,ā Trump said after being asked about criticism from Republicans who want him to focus less on personal attacks.
āSome of you will say, āHe ranted and raved,āā Trump said to journalists. āIām a very calm person, believe it or not.ā