Some Republicans are distancing themselves from Trump’s attack on Harris’ mental fitness

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump escalated his personal attacks on his Democratic rival Kamala Harris on Sunday, repeating the insult that she was “mentally impaired” while saying she should be “charged and prosecuted.” become.

Trump’s rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, echoed similar themes to an event a day earlier in which he described himself as a “dark speech.” He told a cheering crowd that Harris was responsible for an “invasion” on the U.S.-Mexico border and “she should be charged and prosecuted for her actions.”

“The corrupt Joe Biden has been mentally impaired,” he added. “Sad. But honestly, I think Kamala Harris was born that way. There’s something wrong with Kamala. And I just don’t know what it is, but there’s definitely something missing. And you know what, everyone knows it.”

With just over a month to go until the election, Trump is stepping up his use of personal and insulting attacks, even as some Republicans say he should stick to the issues.

His proposals to prosecute political enemies are particularly notable for their departure from U.S. norms that seek to protect the justice system from political influence. In recent weeks, he has threatened to prosecute Google for allegedly publishing “good stories” about Harris, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and anyone he says is “engaged in unscrupulous behavior” related to the upcoming election. given priority.

Trump has long threatened legal action against his rivals, including President Joe Biden and his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton. This month he threatened to jail those involved in “unscrupulous behavior” in this election, including poll workers, lawyers, political activists, donors and voters, once again sowing doubt about the integrity of the election, including fraud occurs very rarely

But he also has a lot of legal problems of his own. He was convicted in May of falsifying business records in a hush-money case in New York. Sentencing is scheduled for November 26th. He still has three other cases pending against him, including one that was dismissed by a federal judge following a Supreme Court ruling granting presidential broad immunity. The Justice Department is appealing. The other cases are on hold.

If he wins the election, he could potentially pardon himself or order the Justice Department to drop the federal investigation into him.

On Sunday he admitted he could lose in November: “If she wins it won’t be so pleasant for me, but I don’t care.”

His derision of the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to lead a major party as “stupid,” “weak,” “stone-stupid” and “lazy” is also a sign of how nasty and personal the final stretch of the campaign will be can.

His allies have publicly and privately urged him to talk about the economy, immigration and other issues instead.

“I just think the better way is to pursue the case that their policies are destroying the country,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-R-S.C., said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” as she was asked about Trump’s comments. “They’re crazy liberals.”

Asked whether he approved of the personal attacks on Harris, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., dodged the question during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I think Kamala Harris is the wrong choice for America,” said Emmer, who is supporting Trump’s vice presidential nominee JD Vance as he prepares for Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. “I think Kamala Harris is actually as bad or worse than the administration we’ve seen over the last four years.”

When asked, Emmer said: “I think we should stick to the topics. The problem is that Donald Trump fixed it once. They broke it. He will fix it again. Those are the problems.”

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who ran for Senate as a moderate Republican, brought up Trump’s false claims that Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, had previously downplayed her black heritage. Harris attended Howard University, a historically black college, and has consistently identified as both black and South Asian throughout her political career.

“I already confronted him when he had the only interview in which he questioned her racial identity, and now he’s questioning her mental competency,” Hogan told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “And I think that’s an insult not only to the vice president, but to people who are actually mentally disabled.”

Harris has not commented on Trump’s recent attacks, but when asked about other comments, said it was the ” Same old show. The same trite playbook we’ve been hearing for years with no plan for how he would address the needs of the American people.”

Ahead of Sunday’s rally, some of Trump’s supporters said he often made offensive comments. Still, they support his proposals to restrict immigration and say he has a better handle on the economy.

“He says what’s on his mind and sometimes he says it’s inappropriate,” said Jeffrey Balogh, 56, who attended the rally with two friends. “But he did the job. He did very well.”

Tamara Molnar said she thinks Trump is very strong on immigration. Addressing his insults, Molnar said: “I think everyone has to exercise some decency when talking about other candidates, and I don’t think either side is necessarily innocent in that. “There’s a lot being thrown in both directions.”

At the rally in Erie, Trump said the “invasion” would end and deportations would begin when he took office.

“Thousands of migrants from the most dangerous countries are destroying the character of small towns and leaving local communities in fear and despair,” he said, speaking of communities in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Last month the GOP leader said he was “entitled” to personal attacks against Harris.

“As far as personal attacks go, I’m very angry with her for what she did to the country,” he said at a news conference at the time. “I’m very angry with her that she would use the justice system as a weapon against me and other people, very angry with her. I think I have a right to make personal attacks.”

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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed from New York.