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(Bloomberg) — Former President Donald Trump sought to tie Vice President Kamala Harris to high inflation during President Joe Biden’s administration, before pivoting to off-the-cuff criticisms, which he said allies have urged him to avoid.

“Yesterday, Kamala laid out her so-called economic plan. She says she’s going to lower the cost of food and housing, starting on Day One. But Day One for Kamala was three and a half years ago,” said Trump Saturday at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in the northeast of the state, close to Scranton, where Biden was born. 

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Trump, during a more than 90-minute speech where he declared that he’s better looking than the vice president, quickly pivoted to personal attacks on Harris, the first Black woman to be a major party presidential candidate.

“People say, be nice. Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person. That is a laugh of a lunatic,” he said.

Trump added that his allies have urged him to limit the insults: “‘Please sir, don’t call her a lunatic.’ But that’s what she is.”

That approach has rattled some Republicans who have encouraged the former president to focus more on issues such as the economy and immigration that voters say are central to their decision in November, and where polls show Trump has an advantage. 

Judy Benson, 61, of Kingston, Pennsylvania attended the rally with her 10 year-old grandson — her fourth Trump rally in Wilkes-Barre going back to 2015 — and said she doesn’t like Harris’s policies. But she said she wished Trump would avoid the personal attacks.

“He really should stop talking about her,” Benson said.

Trump has defended his right to toss insults at Harris, claiming the attacks are boosting his campaign.

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The Republican nominee has struggled to regain his footing in the new contest against Harris after the vice president replaced Biden atop their party ticket. Harris has risen in the polls and apparently expanded the electoral map, putting into play swing states that Democrats had largely written off under Biden.

To carry Pennsylvania, Trump is looking to shore up his support among White, working-class voters and capitalize on discontent among the Biden administration’s handling of the economy. High inflation has battered American households and threatens to undercut Harris’ campaign. 

Economic Agenda

Harris earlier this week unveiled an economic agenda aimed at tackling the burden of inflation with sweeping new subsidies and tax benefits for poor and middle class Americans. Trump has assailed that platform as “communist,” and allies have said Harris’s initiatives to prevent price gouging at grocery stores and to offer a $25,000 subsidy to first-time home buyers will only serve to fuel inflation. 

Inflation is broadly on a downward trend as the economy slowly shifts into a lower gear. Underlying US inflation eased for a fourth month on an annual basis in July. Core consumer prices — which excludes food and energy costs — increased 3.2% in July from a year ago, down from the 2022 peak of 6.6%.

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Harris will also campaign in Pennsylvania this weekend with plans to do a bus tour starting Sunday in Pittsburgh. She’ll be joined by her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and their spouses ahead of the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago where they will accept their nominations.

Pennsylvania is one state where Harris’ entry has reset the race. Trump narrowly carried the state in 2016 — by less than one percentage point — and lost in another close race in 2020, this time by a little over one point. 

The RealClearPolitics average shows the race between Harris and Trump in Pennsylvania dead even after the Republican nominee had built a lead over Biden in surveys of the commonwealth before the sitting president dropped out of the race on July 21.

Biden’s Hometown

Luzerne County, where Trump staged his rally on Saturday, and neighboring Lackawanna County, where Biden once lived in Scranton, is a working-class area that was Democratic but has become more Republican as Trump’s populist appeal helps the party make inroads with blue-collar voters. Biden carried Lackawanna County in 2020, and while Trump overwhelmingly won Luzerne, he carried it by less than he did in 2016.

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Luzerne County Democratic Committee Chairman Thom Shubilla said Harris’ focus on “kitchen table” issues will help address concerns that swing voters in the region have about high prices and the economy and rebut tired attacks by Trump.

“The Trump attack, it’s old hat at this point,” Shubilla said. “We’ve been hearing the same thing from him for eight years, and it’s a show that’s been going on entirely too long.”

Saturday’s rally in Wilkes-Barre was Trump’s second in Pennsylvania since an attempted assassination attempt at a rally in Butler in western Pennsylvania. 

Trump will also hold an event in York, Pennsylvania on Monday — the same day that his running mate, Senator JD Vance, speaks in the state’s most populous city, Philadelphia.

(Updates with inflation data in 13th paragraph.)

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