Democrats are escalating their attacks on former President Trump’s fitness for office to create a dramatic contrast with Vice President Harris less than two weeks before Election Day.
On Thursday, Harris, 60, called Trump, 78, “exhausted” in remarks to the press. Later that evening during a rally in Atlanta, Harris called the former president “more confused, more unstable and more angry.” Former President Obama, arguably Harris’ top deputy, has also used the attack line, calling Trump “older and crazier.”
The message fits with Harris’ promise to bring about generational change in the White House and her campaign’s strategy of portraying the former president as disordered and unhinged.
“That’s a very effective message,” said Mike Madrid, a GOP strategist and founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project. “Especially when it’s reinforced every day by the candidate you’re criticizing.”
The strategy represents a flip of the script from Trump and Republicans, who criticized the 81-year-old President Biden over his fitness for office despite being just a few years older than Trump. While concerns about Biden’s mental capacity grew steadily throughout the campaign, they reached a breaking point after a disastrous debate against Trump earlier this year. The fallout from the event led to Biden dropping out and Harris replacing him as the Democratic Party’s nominee.
Democrats, who had expressed concerns publicly and in the polls that Biden would be the party’s standard-bearer, quickly coalesced behind Harris, giving her a needed boost in the polls.
“There’s a big contrast between the youthful energy that she brings to this campaign and the joy that she brings to this campaign compared to him being a miserable old man,” said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Harris.
Harris has criticized Trump for canceling several recent interviews and refusing to debate her a second time, which he attributes to exhaustion. Obama, for his part, has also clearly indicated that Trump is in decline, pointing to Trump’s “babble” at rallies.
“You would be worried if your grandpa behaved like that,” the former president told a crowd in Arizona last week.
Additionally, the Harris campaign has criticized Trump for his refusal to release his own detailed medical records after the vice president released her records indicating she was in “excellent health.” The Trump campaign has not released Trump’s detailed medical evaluations but pointed to his health updates he shared due to an ear wound after he was shot in July.
“The fact that he is refusing to release his health report should raise alarm bells among those who had the same concerns and amplified those concerns about President Biden,” said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright.
This isn’t the first time Trump has faced questions about his age this cycle. The Republican primaries featured several younger, rising stars running to challenge Trump, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Both candidates sought to compare themselves to Trump in terms of age, particularly Haley, who warned of the consequences of being an older candidate.
“I would argue that one of the best and most outstanding political comments to come out last year came from Nikki Haley during the Trump primaries when she said the first party to replace her 80-year-old presidential candidate would win.” This election,” Nellis said. “I think that’s true.”
Haley has since supported Trump.
It’s unclear whether the strategy will resonate with voters. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Friday found that the percentage of voters who thought Trump was too ancient to be president was unchanged from July at 41 percent.
Additionally, polls show Trump gaining ground on Harris in the already razor-thin race. The same New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump and Harris deadlocked at 48 percent. The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling average shows Harris leading Trump nationally, 48.7 percent to 47.7 percent.
Republicans note that Harris’ strategy is part of a larger final effort amid the close race.
“They’re trying to flood the zone all at once and make everything, everywhere work, and this just isn’t going to work for them,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist.
Trump, for his part, has hit back at the attacks. During a rally in North Carolina earlier this week, he said he had been “watching” Obama and thought he was “exhausted.” He also ordered Harris to undergo a cognitive test, calling her “slow and lethargic in answering the simplest questions.”
“We just went through almost four years of this, we shouldn’t have to do it again!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
O’Connell noted that Trump could outdo Harris on this issue because it’s not about the age of voters.
“It’s about skill, agility and acumen,” O’Connell said. “That’s what the American public sees.”
Republicans say the age argument could also end up alienating voters over 65, who are considered the most engaged voters.
“Who wants to be told they’re a geezer?” said O’Connell.
The Democrats argue that they are concerned with mental acuity and fitness as well as generational change.
“It’s become a factor in our elections that people want what’s next,” said Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist. “Her relative youth, the generation gap and all the new views and energy that come with it, yes, that is a contrast between her and Donald Trump. It’s also a contrast between her and Joe Biden.”
