Trump had the greatest summer of his political life. After years of jokes about Republican infighting, the Democratic Party was truly in disarray as panic spread about President Joe Biden's fitness to lead the ticket.
National polls showed that Trump was in the best position of any Republican presidential hopeful in more than two decades. Many Democrats were worried about a blowout. And to top it all off, Trump finally got the raucous convention coronation he craved. During the lovefest, his two former primary foes, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, urged the party to unite around Trump.
In the middle of it all, Trump survived an assassination attempt. Some thought the moment would change the 78-year-old. It did not.
Scrambling to put an end to Kamala Harris’ ascent, Donald Trump’s campaign and outside allies came up with a plan: Hit her on immigration, her record as a “liberal prosecutor” and as a “radical.”
It didn’t last long.
During a 34-minute question-and-answer appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump questioned Harris’ Black identity. He said he would pardon violent Jan. 6 rioters, and he didn’t directly answer when asked if his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, would be ready to assume the presidency.
The exchanges overshadowed the attacks his political operation has made against Harris in recent days, while Trump still seems to be searching for an effective message to damage her.
“They don’t have a narrative that they’re comfortable with about how to take down Harris,” said Chuck Coughlin, an Arizona-based political strategist. “He’s grasping around. I think he’s desperately grasping around with his instincts. I don’t think his team has any way to put their handle on this, and so he’s instinctually grasping around for what to say.”
THE BIG MO’ — This morning, KAMALA HARRIS’ presidential effort announced that it raised a massive $310 million in July — two-thirds of which came from first-time donors — and has $377 million in cash on hand. More from Elena Schneider
What that means, vis-a-vis DONALD TRUMP:
Harris outraised Trump massively. In July, Trump and his affiliated committees pulled in $138.7 million. Harris and her allied groups more than doubled that.Harris has more cash on hand. Trump and allies have a massive $327 million warchest. But Harris and allies have the edge by $50 million. More on Trump’s haul
The prisoner release elevated Harris and made Trump look petty. The Independent:
The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
Gershkovich, Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual US-Russia citizenship, arrived on American soil shortly before midnight and were greeted by president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris, before joyful reunions with their families.
The historic prisoner swap deal has been hailed as a diplomatic victory across the world, with the apparent exception of Donald Trump, who bitterly posted on Truth Social that the US never makes good deals and the negotiators were an “embarrassment”.
Trump was the one to suffer embarrassment, because he had claimed that only he could secure the release:
