Former President Donald Trump is employing one of his tried-and-true strategies to dim Kamala Harris’ post-convention glow: going full workhorse.
Out to prove age is just a number, the 78-year-old has revved up his visits to the battleground states, sat down for interviews with popular podcasters, and slammed the gas on X — the social media platform he previously relied on to circumvent the mainstream media.
His tweets are once again driving the television talk show conversations as he unleashes withering personal attacks against Ms. Harris and other political foes, including the Department of Justice.
“While Kamala Harris hides in safe spaces and has dodged the press for 38 days, President Trump and Senator Vance have barnstormed the country, maintained an aggressive campaign schedule, and sat down for numerous interviews,” said Trump Campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
Ms. Harris will answer the calls for an interview by sitting down Thursday with CNN’s Dana Bash. Ms. Harris will have Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz by her side for the interview.
In their widespread events and TV news appearances, Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance are working to define Ms. Harris as a flip-flopper who cannot be trusted. They dismiss the idea she is ready to face the nation’s biggest challenges when she runs from the news media and has been Biden’s sidekick for three-plus years.
Ms. Leavitt predicted the “honeymoon is coming to an end as more and more Americans realize how dangerously liberal Kamala Harris truly is,” she said.
The more assertive approach is a marked departure from early August when Mr. Trump and his campaign were grappling with the historic shakeup at the top of the Democratic ticket and juggling how best to handle Ms. Harris.
It also distances him from Ms. Harris’s recent disappearing act.
“By being everywhere and anywhere, he shows he has the courage and ability to stand up to the scrutiny of the news media,” said Steve Mitchell, a Michigan-based GOP strategist. “By doing so, he is contrasting himself with his opponent who seems afraid to talk to anybody and won’t even do an interview with CNN without having her security blanket in the vice presidential candidate.”
“He is trying to smoke her out to get her to do more interviews because his hope is that she is going to become, as one person on the street called her the other day, ‘Lettuce head’ — speaking only in lettuce and word salads,” Mr. Mitchell said.
With nine weeks until the election, Ms. Harris has seized the momentum in the race.
Since subbing for President Biden, she has erased Mr. Trump’s lead in battleground state polls and raised $540 million, including $82 million during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Republican strategist John Feehery said Mr. Trump has plenty of time to change the trajectory of the race.
“Elections really start after Labor Day, no matter what all the smart people think,” Mr. Feehery said. “So it makes total sense for him to hit it hard now.”
He said Mr. Trump is a master of dominating earned media and will continue to push that advantage.
“Kamala might have the media on her side, reflexively, but nobody plays the media better than Trump,” Mr. Feehry said. “He is relentless. “
Ms. Harris is facing mounting criticism — fed by Trump and his allies and a frustrated Washington press corps — over her refusal to engage with the news media, put meat on the bones of her policy vision and interact with voters in less choreographed ways.
For the first time since last week’s national convention in Chicago, Ms. Harris returned to the campaign trail on Wednesday with a bus tour of southern Georgia. It culminates with a rally in Savannah and the CNN interview.
The next events on her schedule are on Labor Day Monday when she has a campaign event in Detroit and then a joint appearance with Mr. Biden in Pittsburgh.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has been busy.
Last week, he traveled to Pennsylvania to talk about the economy, Michigan to focus on crime and safety, North Carolina to talk national security, Arizona to highlight the border and Nevada to promote his no-tax-on-tips pledge.
This week, he started by addressing the National Guard Association’s conference in Detroit.
While there, he received the endorsement of former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Days earlier, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hopped aboard the Trump train.
Mr. Trump plans to return to Michigan on Thursday to discuss the economy, inflation and manufacturing at a metal service center. On the same day, he will hold a town hall event in Wisconsin.
From there, he plans to hold a rally in Pennsylvania before heading to Washington to speak at the “Joyful Warrior” summit hosted by Moms for Liberty, a conservative group.
GOP strategist Kevin Sheridan said the campaign’s more aggressive approach carries both risk and reward.
On the one hand, he said it “cements the idea that you’re the hardest-working band on the scene,” and on the other hand, the “downside is going off message at your fifth rally of the week and losing a few media cycles.
“It’s a second-tier vibe issue, but it could matter in a close election when Kamala and Walz are hiding,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.