Trump tests out new nickname for Kamala Harris amid speculation she'll replace Biden
Former President Trump is rolling out new nicknames for Vice President Kamala Harris as part of a new focus on the VP, just as she is being touted as a potential replacement for President Biden on the 2024 ticket after Biden suffered a disastrous debate performance.
Trump regularly coins nicknames for his political opponents, from Low Energy Jeb [Bush] to "Crooked Hillary" [Clinton]. For Biden, he has called him "Slow Joe," "Sleepy Joe" and "Crooked Joe," among others.
Now, after a debate performance from Biden that has sparked panic among some Democrats and media figures and seen him slump in the polls, Trump turned his attention this week to Harris.
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As vice president, Harris would succeed Biden if he resigned from office, and she would also be a top contender for the 2024 Democratic nomination if Biden announced that he does not intend to serve a second term.
Trump, in a Truth Social post, accused Biden of having "choked like a dog" during the debate and offered his "congratulations" to the vice president as he dubbed her "Laffin’ Kamala Harris."
"Also, respects to our potentially new Democrat Challenger, Laffin’ Kamala Harris," he said. "She did poorly in the Democrat Nominating process, starting out at Number Two, and ending up defeated and dropping out, even before getting to Iowa, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a ‘highly talented’ politician!"
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A day earlier, the Trump campaign had put out a statement slamming Democrats and the media for an alleged cover-up to hide Biden’s alleged mental acuity.
"Every one of them has lied about Joe Biden’s cognitive state and supported his disastrous policies over the past four years, especially Cackling Copilot Kamala Harris," the statement said.
A national poll released Tuesday by CNN suggests Harris performs slightly better than Biden in a matchup with Trump.
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"Harris’ slightly stronger showing against Trump rests at least in part on broader support from women (50% of female voters back Harris over Trump vs. 44% for Biden against Trump) and independents (43% Harris vs. 34% Biden)," the poll notes in a release.
Biden, who at age 81 is the oldest president in the nation's history, is facing the roughest stretch of his bid for a second term in the White House. Biden's campaign has repeatedly insisted that the president has no intention of dropping out of the race.
On Thursday, he told supporters that he is not leaving the race. A supporter called out at an Independence Day event, saying, "Keep up the fight. We need you!"
Biden responded, "You got me, man. I'm not going anywhere."
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.