Harris Goads Trump Over 'Exhausted' Report, Reviving Age Issue

Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a new line of attack on the campaign trail Friday, criticizing Donald Trump for canceling planned media appearances and suggesting the 78-year-old former president was not up for the rigors of the job.

(Bloomberg) — Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a new line of attack on the campaign trail Friday, criticizing Donald Trump for canceling planned media appearances and suggesting the 78-year-old former president was not up for the rigors of the job.

The volley from Harris returned the question of candidate age to center stage, just months after persistent concerns over 81-year-old President Joe Biden’s health ultimately overwhelmed his reelection campaign. Harris in Michigan questioned whether Trump was “fit to do the job.”

“I’ve been hearing reports that his team, at least, is saying he’s suffering from exhaustion, and that’s apparently the excuse for why he’s not doing interviews,” Harris told reporters in Grand Rapids, Michigan ahead of a campaign stop in the swing state.

The Democratic presidential nominee, 59, cited Trump’s refusal to take part in another debate and noted that while she has agreed to do a CNN town hall the Republican, 78, has not accepted their invitation.

“Being president of the United States is one of the hardest jobs in the world, and so we really do need to ask, if he’s exhausted being on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job? And I think that’s a question that is an open-ended question he needs to answer,” Harris added. 

Harris’ comments follow a report from Politico that Trump’s team had been in talks for him to appear on The Shade Room, an online platform, for an interview. When the site pushed for a date to schedule the former president, they were told that he was “exhausted” and declining some interviews, according to the report which cited people familiar with those conversations. 

A Trump campaign spokesperson told Politico that Trump “has more energy and a harder work ethic than anyone in politics.”

The former president’s planned appearance at a National Rifle Association event has also been reportedly canceled. Trump has also called off other media appearances in recent weeks, including one with CNBC. CBS News’ 60 Minutes also said the Republican nominee backed out of an interview, a claim Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung dismissed. 

“There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in,” Cheung said in an Oct. 1 post on X.

Even with the recent cancellations, Trump has sat for significantly more interviews than Harris since her entry into the race.

Last weekend, Harris released a health summary and her campaign called on Trump to release a similar report from his physicians.

Trump, speaking to reporters Friday, dismissed the need to provide additional medical information while criticizing Harris.

“I want to see her do a cognitive test,” Trump said.

Bizarre Town Hall

Harris performed well in her first debate against Trump in September and has pressed him to take the stage against her again — calls the former president has rejected. 

The vice president’s campaign also seized on a bizarre Trump town hall earlier this week, where the Republican ended a question-and-answer session after two audience members fainted and proceeded to have staff play music while he stayed on stage and danced to songs. 

Harris’ campaign posted video on X of Trump standing on stage as the music played, describing him as appearing “lost, confused, and frozen on stage” and in a separate tweet highlighted a moment where Trump appeared to confuse the date of the election. 

Both Harris and Trump are campaigning in Michigan on Friday, converging in a crucial swing state. Harris is holding three events in the state as she seeks to motivate supporters to the polls and chip away at any undecideds in a presidential race polls show is deadlocked.

Trump will also be in Oakland County for a roundtable discussion and will then hold a rally in Detroit, a deep-blue city, part of a broader effort from the former president to court Black voters, a once stalwart Democratic bloc whose support for that ticket has softened.

For both candidates, pitching their economic message will be front and center, highlighting an issue with particular resonance in Michigan, the historic home to the US auto industry and a state where Trump and Harris have sought to use their economic agendas to court blue-collar workers worried about jobs and wages and seeking relief from high prices.

There are a little over two weeks until Election Day, but voting is already underway in Michigan where the state has received more than 944,000 absentee ballots. Trump and Harris’ competing Michigan trips also come a day before early in-person voting is set to kick off in Detroit on Saturday and other jurisdictions in the state following suit in the coming days.