By Lisa Mascaro\Jill Colvin\AP
Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
The admonitions come after some members and former President Donald Trump’s allies began to cast Harris as a “DEI” hire — a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.They also come as Republicans and Trump‘s campaign scramble to adjust to the reality of a new Democratic rival less than four months before Election Day. Read more.
Why this matters:
Trump, in particular, has a history of racist and misogynistic attacks that could turn off key groups of swing voters, including suburban women, as well as voters of color and younger people his campaign has been courting. The warnings point to the new risks for Republicans in running against a Democrat who could become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to win the White House.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said both Trump and Harris have records in White House policy and said voters can compare how families were doing under the Trump administration with how they’re doing now under President Joe Biden. “She is the co-owner, co-author, co-conspirator in all the policies that got us into the mess,” Johnson said.
The dynamics could be heightened on the debate stage, if Trump goes through with debating Harris, as he said Thursday he would. Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said Trump was unlikely to debate Harris in the same way he would debate Biden.
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