On Thursday, former President Trump spoke to the press at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The former president opened with a summary of the state of the election race so far; he slammed Kamala Harris for being an unelected nominee and for her choice of far-left Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate and then went on to cite his and running mate JD Vance’s showing in recent polls.
Trump also slammed the Biden administration’s record on illegal immigration and Kamala Harris’s failures as “border czar” and went on to criticize the Biden administration’s record on foreign affairs.
The former president then announced three agreed-upon debate dates, wherein he will face Vice President Harris; Trump stated that the Harris campaign “may or may not” agree to the terms of the debates. The dates Trump mentioned were September 4th (Fox), September 10th (NBC), and September 25th (ABC.)
Trump went on to decry how the presidential campaign was “just taken away” from Joe Biden, “…like he was a child.”
Unlike Kamala Harris, Donald Trump took questions from the attending media. The questions posed were not clearly audible due in part to the acoustics of the room. Trump was, as he has been in the past, visibly more animated when engaged in a back-and-forth rather than in prepared remarks.
The first question evidently had to do with reframing the campaign, which Trump said he has not done, then went on to attack Harris’s record, particularly about her term as Attorney General in California.
The second question was apparently about demographic blocs of voters; Trump touted his strength among various groups, including black male voters.
Third, Trump answered a question about Harris’s VP selection; he indicated that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro would have been a worse selection than Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Next, Trump fielded another debate question, touted JD Vance’s coming into his own, and predicted Vance would win the VP debate.
See Related: But JD Vance Is Weird…
Another question had to do with the crowd size at Trump rallies; Trump responded with descriptions of several of his rallies, claiming five-figure attendance numbers — and noted that he has the habit of asking for the cameras to be turned to show the crowd.
See Related: Kamala Harris Campaign Lures Rally Attendees a 2nd Time, With Free Concert in Wisconsin
Replying to an apparent question about Trump’s relationship with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Trump indicated he “hoped they could patch up” that relationship.
In reply to another question about the campaign, Trump also pointed out that he responds to questions such as: “What are we doing right now?” He pointed out that he had spoken to several people in the room on the phone and indicated polling leads and his travel schedule as indications of his involvement in the race.
On China, Trump touted his relationship with China’s President Xi and described how he “held Xi accountable for COVID.”
On the January 6th protestors, Trump stated that they were “treated very unfairly” and reminded the press that he had called for them to make their voices heard “patriotically and peacefully.”
In reply to a question on past candidates, Trump cited Hillary Clinton as the “smartest” of the opponents he has faced — but added that she was often her own worst enemy.
Abortion: Trump reiterated his support for the Dobbs decision and stated once again that the issue is now where is where it belongs, with the states.
On the Second Amendment, Trump noted that the opposing team would “take away guns.” He cited Chicago as an example of how tightening gun laws does not work to reduce crime, including shootings.
Trump’s primary purpose in the speech seems to have been to push the debates and to hammer the Harris campaign for not (as of this writing) agreeing to the three times and hosts. As usual, Trump was most in his element when responding to questions from the media — something that Kamala Harris has not done since her anointment as the presidential candidate.
On Israel, Trump cited his support for Israel and stated that anyone who was Jewish and would vote for Kamala Harris should “…have their head examined.”
Trump also praised the FBI’s investigation of last month’s assassination attempt.
In reply to another unheard question, Trump indicated he knew former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown “very well” and indicated that Brown was “not a fan” of Kamala Harris. From what we know of the relationship between Brown and Harris, that’s an interesting claim.
Trump also responded to another question by blasting the lawfare cases against him and did a lateral arabesque from that to talk about mail-in voting and election security, noting in particular that the election actually starts in September due to early and mail-in voting.
At one point, Trump, replying to a question apparently about Hunter Biden, described it as an “unfortunate” situation and then defended his administration’s declining to prosecute Hillary Clinton, claiming “I was very protective of her” and that he didn’t see it as a positive thing to take the “wife of a former President of the United States and throw her in jail.”
Trump also responded to a question about his bullet wound by stating, with a slight smile, “I heal fast,” and saying that he had recovered.
On immigration, Trump reiterated his plans for mass deportations, beginning with criminals. He cited the plan to work with local law enforcement: “They know where these people are.”
On Social Security, Trump vowed to preserve Social Security, claimed that he would use gas and oil to fund this program (presumably by taxing proceeds), and restated his support for “no tax on tips.”
Some of the answers were difficult to parse, as we could not hear the questions.
It’s worth mentioning again: Kamala Harris has still, since being anointed as the Democrats’ presidential candidate, not answered one unscripted question from the media. This morning, Donald Trump answered quite a few questions. He did this without a teleprompter, without a list of attendees to call on, and without pre-screened questions. That’s a key distinction between the two. Trump spoke for over an hour, and by far, the majority of the time, he was answering questions from the media.
You can view the entire speech and press conference here or just below.
Watching Former President Trump Speaks to the Press at Mar-a-Lago @CSPAN https://t.co/ukLfIfbhb1
— Ward Clark (@TheGreatLander) August 8, 2024
