Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump gave a blunt assessment of the nation before revealing a series of dates his campaign has agreed on for presidential debates with Vice President Kamala Harris at a press conference Thursday.
“I think that our country is right now in the most dangerous position it’s ever been in, from an economic standpoint, from a safety standpoint,” the former president said. “We have a lot of bad things coming up. You could end up in a depression of the 1929 variety.” Trump also said he sees the possibility of another world war.
Trump then directed attacks at his presumptive opponent in November, Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she didn’t go through a primary process and pointing fingers at her “horrible” record in California, where she was a district attorney and state attorney general. He also attacked her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for his progressive policy stances. He offered a pointed criticism against the Harris-Walz ticket. Trump said several times that the Harris campaign is avoiding reporters.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, the press conference marked Trump’s first public appearance since Harris tapped Walz to be her running mate for the 2024 presidential election.
Harris and Walz headlined their first rally together in Philadelphia on Tuesday before embarking on a cross-country tour, holding rallies in seven battleground states over five days, as the Deseret News reported. At one such campaign event in Detroit, Harris faced interruptions during her remarks from pro-Palestine protesters.
“You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said before giving the protesters a long stare. As USA Today reported, the heated exchange shows the existing fractures within the Democratic Party over the Israel-Gaza war, a likely challenge for the Harris-Walz ticket.
Trump slams Harris for lack of unscripted media appearances
At the press conference, Trump gave out details about the agreements his campaign reached with television networks for three presidential debates. He said Fox News will broadcast one on Sept. 4, NBC News on Sept. 10 and ABC News on Sept. 25.
“We have spoken to the heads of the network, and it’s all been confirmed, other than some fairly minor details,” he said, like whether there will be a live audience, and the specific locations. “But all things that will be settled very easily. ... The other side has to agree to terms. They may or may not agree.”
“She hasn’t done an interview, she can’t do an interview, she’s fairly incompetent, and she can’t do an interview. But I look forward to the debates, because I think we have to set the record straight,” Trump continued.
Trump spent around 45 minutes answering questions from reporters, from debating over the number of attendees his rallies garnered compared to Harris’ to what billionaire Elon Musk’s endorsement means to him.
His latest criticism focused on Harris not giving unscripted remarks and stumbling on the odd occasion she does go off script.
“This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy and strengthening alliances,” Harris said last week upon the return of several American prisoners from Russian prison.
The press conference isn’t Trump’s only media appearance as of late. On Wednesday, he phoned into a Fox News studio and took questions from reporters at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota.
Trump: Biden had a ‘right’ to pursue a second term
Trump spoke in defense of President Joe Biden, saying although he isn’t a fan of the Biden White House, Biden didn’t have the opportunity to seek a second term, as granted by the Constitution.
“People were saying he lost, after the debate he couldn’t win. Well, I don’t know that that’s true, necessarily, but whether he could win or he couldn’t win, he had the right to run,” Trump said. “And they took it away,” referring to former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who reportedly exerted pressure on Biden to step down behind closed doors.
“I’m not complaining,” Trump added. The former president also claimed Biden is unhappy and angry with the top Democratic Party minds who went against him.