Vice President and Democrat candidate Kamala Harris questioned Donald Trump’s fitness for office on Friday as speculation mounted that the 78-year-old, the oldest major-party White House candidate in history, was “exhausted” after cancelling a series of interviews.
While Trump has been appearing on supportive TV networks, he has pulled out of interviews with outlets such as NBC, CNBC, and CBS. He has also refused a second debate with Harris after being soundly beaten in the first.
Politico reported that a Trump aide had informed a website negotiating an interview that the former president was “exhausted” and declining some appearances – a claim his campaign dismissed as “detached from reality.”
However, Harris, who turns 60 this weekend, criticised Trump over concerns about his health and stamina.
“If you’re exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you’re fit for the toughest job in the world,” Harris told supporters during multiple stops in the key swing state of Michigan.
While Trump has maintained a busy schedule of media appearances, most have been with outlets where he faces little pushback.
In response to Harris’s comments, Trump reacted angrily insisting he had cancelled no interviews while calling his Democrat rival a “loser” who “doesn’t have the energy of a rabbit.”
Trump also claimed he was “killing” her in the polls and wrongly asserted she did not pass the bar exam.
Harris, a former attorney general of California who passed the bar exam in 1990, holds a narrow lead in national polling averages. However, October surveys show the pair are neck-and-neck in Michigan.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump watches as a video featuring Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris plays during a campaign event, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 in Detroit. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump has puzzled analysts with his strategy of mixing swing state stops with appearances in regions he has no realistic chance of winning, but where he attracts large crowds.
He was in the liberal stronghold of New York on Thursday for a Catholic charity dinner, where he mocked Harris in a speech that drew gasps for its off-colour jokes and profanities.
Back in friendlier territory on Friday morning, he gave a soft interview on Fox News before heading to Michigan to counter Harris’s rally.
Both candidates are focusing on critical battleground states where early voting is already underway.
