How Harris woke up Democrats — and Trump’s team

Following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee embraced unity and completely switched up his prepared remarks for the Republican National Convention, but now with Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee, the former president is done being nice.

At Trump’s rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, his first since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Trump unloaded on Harris, calling her a “lunatic” and “the most liberal elected politician in American history.”

“I was supposed to be nice,” the former president said. “They said something happened when I got shot. I became nice. If you don’t mind, I’m not going to be nice. Is that OK?”

Before Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris, the Trump team was feeling like it had the election in the bag.

Even before Biden’s disastrous presidential debate and the assassination attempt, Republicans were working toward turning Virginia blue for the first time in 10 election cycles and also had hopes for Minnesota.

“We’re measuring the drapes,” someone close to Trump told the Bulwark on the sidelines of the RNC last week. “It’s just too good right now. We’re jinxing ourselves.”

While they are not necessarily putting away their tape measures, Trump’s team has been shaken out of its reverie in recent days.

None of Trump’s campaign operatives expected to see Harris receive the level of support she did once Biden dropped out of the race. Aides to the president even said one of the reasons he was so hesitant to drop out was he had doubts about Harris’s ability to beat Trump, according to Axios.

One member of Trump’s inner circle also told the Bulwark they did not expect such a smooth transition of power from Biden to Harris. Instead, they expected there to be a major battle among top Democrats for the nomination.

But that did not happen. Instead, a majority of delegates pledged their support for Harris. So far, her campaign and related groups have raised more than $150 million. On top of that, Harris has become a popular meme among young people, garnering the endorsement of pop stars Olivia Rodrigo and Charli XCX.

“The situation we find ourselves in today is totally uncharted territory and has no modern historical parallel,” Trump pollster and senior adviser Tony Fabrizio wrote in a Wednesday memo.

On Thursday, Trump announced he would not commit to sharing a debate stage with Harris, who has accused the former president of being intimidated by her.

But now Trump’s campaign is refocusing efforts on launching more TV advertisements with a particular focus on attacking Harris. Since the primary ended, his campaign has spent only $63,715.13 on TV ads, but now MAGA Inc. Super PAC is set to spend $32 million on ads exclusively attacking Harris.