Trump forced to regroup after gains, as advisers prepare to face Harris

Donald Trump and his allies confronted a new electoral landscape on Sunday as President Biden ended his bid for reelection, a move that upended a period of steady political gains for the Republican nominee and forced his campaign to regroup with a new blueprint less than four months before the election.

Fresh off weeks of mounting confidence over Biden’s stumbles and reams of polling showing the former president ahead in key swing states, Trump at one point appeared frustrated at Biden’s exit, writing on social media that he was “forced to spend time and money” against Biden and now has to “start all over again.”

The Republican nominee and his advisers still sought to project confidence about the path forward and the prospect of taking on Vice President Harris, whom Biden endorsed as his successor. Trump said any new opponent would be “more of the same,” a position some allies repeatedly echoed. They quickly signaled plans to make a slashing case against Harris for her handling of the southern border, and to tie her to Biden’s most unpopular policies.

But they also acknowledged that Harris would bring new challenges. Several people close to Trump said they expect Harris would be a more effective messenger on abortion than Biden was, and could stem some of the anger over the Israel-Gaza war that has bedeviled Biden’s candidacy. They also braced for the prospect that, if nominated, Harris would choose a popular running mate from a swing state, such as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona or Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. And, as one Trump ally put it, “she can actually speak and campaign.”

Trump would have preferred to run against Biden, who was battling widespread worries about his age and acuity. His exit left some in GOP circles feeling the race “just got way harder,” said a senior Republican familiar with Trump’s campaign, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to be more candid about strategy and outlook. “I don’t think it’s a good day for the Trump campaign,” the person added.

The Republican nominee was widely seen as having an edge in the contest after a surreal stretch of events in which Democrats revolted over Biden’s poor debate performance - the president repeatedly appeared to lose his train of thought as he fielded questions - and Trump survived an assassination attempt. Now, Democrats have a fresh opportunity to turn the tide, some analysts said.

“What this does is it gives Democrats a badly needed jolt of energy,” said Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Harris, he said, “offers a generational contrast against Trump, and she can energize non-White Democrats who had become increasingly pessimistic about the campaign and frankly lacked enthusiasm for this election.”

It is not yet clear whom the Democratic Party will nominate in Biden’s place, but Trump’s campaign had already been preparing for the prospect of having to pivot to running against Harris. Some Trump allies said they were charging ahead unfazed. David Urban, a GOP strategist who was an adviser to the Trump 2016 and 2020 campaigns, called the change at the top of the ticket “immaterial” and said Biden and Harris are “interchangeable.”

“She is complicit in every bad decision he’s made,” he added, anticipating more chaos from a “huge intraparty scrum” among Democrats for the running-mate pick.

While Republicans said Sunday they were eager to attack Harris on policy, her critics also have a long history of highly personal and sometimes racist and sexist attacks on the first woman and first Black person to serve as vice president. Trump has called her “nasty,” and like others in the GOP, repeatedly mispronounces her first name, Kamala.

A senior Republican involved in the Trump campaign said there will be attacks on her laugh and her tendency to say awkward things. “We are going to cut up so many clips,” the person said.

Harris said Sunday that she intends to “earn and win” the Democratic nomination. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party - and unite our nation - to defeat Donald Trump,” she wrote Sunday, calling his agenda “extreme.”

Trump’s team began preparing for other possibilities well before Biden left the race. By the end of the Republican National Convention, at late-night parties and in the convention hall, Trump aides and advisers felt certain that Biden was going to step aside and began having discussions among themselves on challenging her.

Trump’s operation had already begun taking more jabs at Harris. Multiple Trump advisers said the main argument against Harris will be her role in addressing the root causes of migration to the United States - which Republicans have used to brand her the “border czar” - and what has happened at the southern border under her watch.

Following Biden’s announcement, MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC, rushed to swap out its ads in battleground states to take aim at Harris. The group’s new spot shows Harris defending Biden and his health and attacks the Biden administration’s record on inflation and the border.

“They created this mess. They - no, Kamala owns this failed record,” a narrator says.

Trump posted his reaction on Truth Social, his social media site, about 45 minutes after Biden shared a letter announcing his withdrawal.

“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was!” Trump wrote. “He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement.” In another post, Trump said, “Whoever the Left puts up now will just be more of the same.”

Top Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles turned their attention to Harris in a joint statement. “Harris has been the Enabler in Chief for Crooked Joe this entire time. They own each other’s records,” they said.

Biden ended his campaign after weeks of growing pressure to do so from fellow Democrats after a widely criticized debate performance. Democrats hope that Harris or another candidate will be able to go against Trump far more forcefully than Biden, allowing Democrats more room for growth in the final months of the race.

Wasserman, the nonpartisan election analyst, said Harris has started to outperform Biden in polls recently - but only because Biden’s position has fallen. Harris draws more support from Black, Latino and young voters and will probably increase enthusiasm among the Democratic base, Wasserman said. “The question is whether Democrats can hold on to Biden levels of support among older, White and Midwestern voters,” he said.

Voters’ dissatisfaction with Democrats’ handling of the border may be her greatest liability, Wasserman said. His assessment: “Trump is still the favorite in this race.”

Republican leaders started coalescing behind another clear message Sunday: If Biden couldn’t run for reelection, then he should not continue serving as president. In a flood of statements, they accused Democrats of covering up Biden’s condition and said voters should remember it in November.

“Voters will neither forgive nor forget the ultimate betrayal of their trust,” said National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson (R-N.C.). “Judgment day is coming in November, when Americans will hand down Democrats’ ultimate punishment: Donald Trump in the White House and a larger House Republican majority.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) echoed the Trump team’s suggestions that Democrats were acting undemocratically in pushing for Biden’s removal from the ticket.

“The party’s prospects are no better now with Vice President Kamala Harris, who co-owns the disastrous policy failures of the Biden Administration,” Johnson said in a statement, tying her to Biden’s border policies in particular.

Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former campaign manager, suggested Harris “leads the very long line of Democrats who lacked the courage, integrity and love of country” to push for Biden to step aside earlier due to “mental and physical decline.”

Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, echoed that attack. “Joe Biden has been the worst President in my lifetime and Kamala Harris has been right there with him every step of the way,” he said.

At a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Saturday, Trump ridiculed Harris’s laugh, mispronounced her first name and called the vice president “crazy,” “nuts” and “crazy as Nancy Pelosi.”

Vance attacked Harris as well, drawing loud boos when he mentioned her name.

“Kamala Harris said something to the effect that I have no loyalty to this country,” Vance said. “Well, I don’t know, Kamala. I did serve in the United States Marine Corps and built a business, what the hell have you done, other than collect a check?”