Trump claims Harris will be easier to debate than Biden

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lamented that he is no longer running against President Joe Biden during a Saturday rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, but he expressed optimism that he can defeat Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

Trump spoke in Pennsylvania nearly four weeks after Biden ended his reelection bid and chose to endorse Harris instead. The former president alluded to the fact that the vice president did not win any primary elections this year, suggesting her boss “hates” her for becoming the Democratic nominee.

“Joe Biden hates her,” Trump said. “This was an overthrow of a president. … I spent $100 million fighting Joe Biden, they told him he couldn’t win. His debate performance wasn’t the best ever.”

Trump’s June 27 debate against Biden was the catalyst for the president’s exit from the race. Dozens of elected Democrats called for the president to end his campaign after he struggled in front of millions of viewers, and nearly three weeks later, he did, jumpstarting Democratic momentum.

Since Harris, 59, launched her campaign on July 21, Trump, 78, has spent more time attacking his opponent personally rather than on policy, which, combined with the momentum from a younger candidate entering the race, has contributed to much tighter polling data than when Biden, 81, was in the race. The latest New York Times/Siena College poll shows the vice president leading in Arizona and North Carolina. The only Democrat to prevail in the latter during the last 11 election cycles was Barack Obama in 2008.

Despite his downward momentum in the polls, however, Trump said he is ready for the second of the two debates he agreed to in May, even with a different cast of characters.

“I look forward to debating her, by the way,” Trump said. “She’ll be easier. She’ll be easier than [Biden].”

The rally was one of several Trump has held this year in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes are likely to decide who wins the White House — the commonwealth has voted for the Electoral College victor in each of the last four cycles. Harris is also set to visit the state, beginning a bus tour Sunday in Pittsburgh before the Democratic National Convention opens Sunday in Chicago.

The two nominees are scheduled to debate on Sept. 10, just under two months before Election Day. The Trump campaign has recruited former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who shared a 2020 Democratic primary debate stage with Harris, to help him prepare.