Democrats are turning up their attacks on former President Trump’s fitness for office in an effort to create a dramatic contrast with Vice President Harris less than two weeks out from Election Day.
On Thursday, Harris, 60, called Trump, 78, “exhausted” in remarks to the press. Later that evening during a rally in Atlanta, Harris referred to the former president as “more confused, more unstable, and more angry.” Former President Obama, arguably Harris’s top surrogate, has also used the attack line, calling Trump “older and loonier.”
The messaging plays into Harris’s promise to bring generational change to the White House along with her campaign’s strategy to paint the former president as chaotic and unhinged.
“It’s a very effective message,” said Mike Madrid, a GOP strategist and founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project. “Especially when it’s reinforced everyday by the candidate you’re criticizing.”
The strategy represents a flipping of the script on Trump and Republicans, who hammered President Biden, 81, over his fitness for office despite being only a few years older than Trump. While concerns over Biden’s mental acuity were steadily increasing throughout the campaign, they reached a breaking point after a disastrous debate performance against Trump earlier this year. Fallout from the event led to Biden dropping out and Harris replacing him as the Democratic Party’s nominee.
Democrats who had voiced concerns about Biden being the party’s standard-bearer in public and in the polls were quick to rally around Harris, giving her a needed boost in the polls.
“There’s such a 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 a number of recent interviews and refusing to debate her for a second time, attributing it to exhaustion. Obama for his part has also strongly suggested that Trump is in a state of decline, pointing out Trump’s “rambling” during rallies.
“You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this,” the former president told a crowd in Arizona last week.
Additionally, the Harris campaign has hammered Trump over his refusal to release his own detailed medical records after the vice president released her records that said she is in “excellent health.” The Trump campaign has not released Trump’s detailed medical evaluations but has pointed to his health updates shared from an ear wound after he was shot in July.
“The fact that he refuses to release his health report should raise red flags for those who had the same concerns and were amplifying those concerns about President Biden,” Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said.
This isn’t the first time Trump has faced questions over his age this cycle. In the Republican primary, a number of younger, rising stars lined up to challenge Trump, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Both candidates sought to contrast themselves with Trump on age, particularly Haley, who warned of the consequences of having an elderly nominee.
“I would argue that one of the best, most salient pieces of political commentary that there’s been in the past year was from Nikki Haley during the primary with Trump when she said the first party to replace their 80-year-old presidential nominee will win this election,” Nellis said. “I think that’s right.”
Haley has since endorsed Trump.
It’s unclear whether the strategy is moving the needle with voters. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Friday found that the percentage of voters who thought Trump was too old to be president was unchanged from July — at 41 percent.
On top of that, polls show Trump gaining ground against 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 48.7 percent to 47.7 percent at the national level.
Republicans note the strategy from Harris is part of a larger last-ditch effort amid the tight race.
“They’re trying to flood the zone all at once and make anything, anywhere work, and this one is just not 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 has been “watching” Obama and thinks he is “exhausted.” He has also called on Harris to take a cognitive test and has called her “slow and lethargic in answering the easiest of questions.”
“We just went through almost four years of that, we shouldn’t have to do it again!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
O’Connell noted that Trump can make the case on this against Harris because it’s not about age for voters.
“What it’s about is ability, agility and acuity,” O’Connell said. “That’s what the American public sees.”
Republicans say the age argument could also risk turning off voters older than 65, which are seen as the most dedicated voters.
“Who wants to be told they’re a geezer?” O’Connell said.
Democrats argue that they are making this about mental acuity and fitness, as well as generational change.
“It has become a factor of our elections that people want what’s next,” said Jon Reinish, a Democratic strategist. “Her comparative youth, generational difference, and all of the fresh outlooks and energy that come along with that, yes, that’s a contrast between her and Donald Trump. It’s also a contrast between her and Joe Biden.”