Trump struggles to keep media spotlight in battle with Harris

LAS VEGAS – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump touted his plan to end taxation on tips at a stop in Las Vegas on Aug 23, trying to turn the page on a week in which he was overshadowed by Vice-President Kamala Harris and struggled to keep focus on policy issues and not personal attacks on his opponent.

From a lectern set up at a Mexican restaurant, Trump spoke about his plan to eliminate taxes on 100 per cent of tips to waiters and other service employees. He also talked about his campaign’s efforts to court Hispanic voters in Nevada – a battleground state that could help determine the Nov 5 election – and nationwide.

The tax proposal is one pillar of Trump’s economic agenda and the kind of issue his advisers have been pressing him to focus on rather than his frequent personal attacks against Ms Harris’ looks, heritage and intelligence, warning they could turn off the moderate voters he needs to win.

At an event in Arizona later, the former president repeated his tax pledge, while promising to set up a commission to investigate presidential assassination attempts. He also said he would install a panel to investigate “an increase in chronic health problems and childhood diseases”.

Both proposals are apparent concessions to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who endorsed Trump at the event after dropping out of the race.

Trump’s comments come a day after Ms Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination with a speech that laid down broad foreign policy principles and sharp contrasts with Trump with 11 weeks left until election day.

Throughout the four-day Democratic convention, Trump counter-programmed with events of his own around the country, hoping to steal some media attention from Ms Harris.

But his speeches on foreign policy, the economy and crime did little to dislodge the spotlight from Ms Harris and received little attention, a stunning turnabout for a politician used to dominating headlines.

Trump and his aides are hoping the Aug 22 boisterous convention finale marks the end of the “honeymoon” period for Ms Harris, who emerged as the Democratic candidate little more than a month ago after

President Joe Biden exited the race.

During

Ms Harris’ acceptance speech in Chicago,

Trump attacked her with dozens of posts on his Truth Social platform, calling her a liar, a “Marxist” and “Comrade Kamala Harris”. With one post in all caps, he simply asked: “Is she talking about me?”

Political science professor William Rosenberg, at Drexel University, said Trump’s personal attacks on Ms Harris underscored his frustration with having to face a biracial woman, a task complicated by his history of making racist remarks.

“His anger and his words speak volumes,” Prof Rosenberg said. “He’s navigating a path which is full of problems for him.”  

Ms Harris has surged in the polls since entering the race, with polling aggregator website FiveThirtyEight putting her ahead of Trump in six of seven key battleground states.

She is also outraising her Republican counterpart. Her campaign told the Federal Election Commission this week that it raised US$204 million (S$265 million) in July, compared with US$48 million reported to the body by Trump’s main fund-raising group.

One question still to be answered is whether Ms Harris will also outpace Trump on the trail in the coming weeks. Mr Biden made relatively few campaign stops, easing pressure on Trump to travel more around the country. That may now change with Ms Harris.

Trump will travel to Detroit on Aug 26 to address a conference of the National Guard Association of the United States, and is scheduled to give a speech at a conservative women’s group’s annual summit in Washington on Aug 23.

Campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump would hold at least one additional campaign stop in between those two events, without providing details.

The Harris campaign has not yet released details of her movements for next week.

Ms Leavitt blamed the media for focusing their stories on Trump’s personal attacks, which she said made up a fraction of his otherwise policy-heavy rallies and speeches.

At an event on Aug 21 in Asheboro, North Carolina, where his speech was billed as one on national security, Trump rejected the recommendations of his advisers to focus on policy and insulted Ms Harris and other Democrats in personal terms.

One outside adviser to Trump, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that several advisers had told the former president that a continued focus on insults rather than policy could doom his chances in November.

Republican strategist Doug Heye said Trump could still win the race, which he predicted would be close, but to do that he should focus on inflation, illegal immigration and other issues that polling show many voters give him higher marks on. REUTERS