Republicans are concerned that their party leader Donald Trump is having a “public nervous breakdown” after he made a series of offensive outbursts about Vice President Kamala Harris as he slips behind her in the polls.
Perhaps collapsing under the weight of Harris’ growing campaign support, the former president has made a number of insulting personal attacks against his Democratic rival. Last week, Trump questioned the vice president’s racial identity at the National Association of Black Journalists conference. Over the weekend, he accused Harris of having a “low IQ.”
Meanwhile, new polls indicate Trump is slipping behind the vice president in the popular vote and races are tightening in battleground states.
“This is what you would call a public nervous breakdown,” Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump State Department appointee, told Politico.
“This is a guy who cut through the Republican primary like a knife through butter. This is a guy who pummeled a semi-conscious president in a debate and literally out of a race. And now this is a guy who cannot come to grips with a competitive presidential race that would require discipline and effective messaging,” Bartlett continued. “And we’re seeing a candidate and a campaign absolutely meltdown.”
Chair of the Vermont Republican Party Paul Dame predicted that Trump allies will start to wane in their defense of the former president.
“I think we’re starting to see the old Trump that a lot of Republicans got tired of in 2020, got tired of defending him,” Dame told USA Today. “If the next three months is defined by more examples like this I think he’s going to see some of that soft centrist support deteriorate.”
One GOP consultant suggested Trump’s negative comments are arguably the first time he has been able to cut through the media frenzy around Harris’s campaign since he survived the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13.
“We’re talking about Trump for the first time in two weeks,” Alex Conant told USA Today. “The risk is he’s reminding voters of the things they didn’t like in 2020, the reason why he’s not president now.”
On top of attacking Harris, Trump congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin over the historic prison swap — but criticized Joe Biden for the deal — and suggested — at a Georgia rally — that top Georgia GOP officials were hampering his chances of winning the 2024 election in the state.
“This is a man who is incapable of controlling his emotions,” said former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who has now signed on to the initiative “Republicans for Harris.” “Against all advice, against all sanity, he is attacking the Republican governor of Georgia…Donald Trump is losing his marbles.”
Trump’s running mate JD Vance has managed to generate his own negative headlines over his “weird” antics and his outrage about his past comments calling the vice president a “childless cat lady.”
An anonymous GOP strategist also told the outlet: “Every day Trump swipes at shiny objects — attacking the popular governor of a swing state, questioning the race of his opponent, or battling cat lady comments by his VP — is a day he is letting Harris define herself on her own terms.”
GOP political consultant Mike Madrid echoed this sentiment on X, writing: “Trump fatigue is real. America is ready to move on.”