McCarthy advises Trump to ‘stop questioning’ legitimacy of Harris’s audience

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned former President Donald Trump regarding his social media posts about Vice President Kamala Harris not receiving large crowds, saying he should instead focus his criticism on her backtracking on numerous policies.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Harris had been using artificial intelligence to make it appear that a large crowd was waiting for her plane to land, writing that “she had NOBODY waiting” and that using AI should count as election interference. McCarthy said this was not an effective way to campaign against Harris, suggesting he should criticize her history as a politician.

“Stop questioning the size of her crowds, and start questioning her position when it comes to what she did as attorney general on crime,” McCarthy said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “Question what did she do when she was supposed to take care of the border as a czar. Question that they brought inflation, and she was the tiebreaking vote when it came to inflation, when it came to IRS agents.”

McCarthy added that Harris is a “perfect” candidate for Trump to run against, arguing she has “the biggest flip-flop” on policies, such as changing her opposition to fracking and her desire to secure the border.

“So don’t sit back. Get out there and start making the case and use her own words to do it to her,” McCarthy said.

The Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney also criticized Trump for his claim against Harris, arguing it was “a gift” to Harris and her 2024 running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), and a “mistake” by the Republican presidential candidate. 

The crowd at Harris’s rally filled an airport hangar in Michigan and welcomed Harris and Walz off Air Force Two last week. The Harris campaign confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the photo Trump posted was taken by the Harris campaign and was not altered by AI.

Trump has vocalized his concern for AI in the past, stating in an interview with social media influencer Logan Paul that he saw an AI-generated ad of him promoting a product, calling it “very disconcerting” and “scary.”