Vice President Kamala Harris seized on reports that former President Donald Trump is “exhausted” from the campaign trail to question his ability to serve another four years in the White House.
The Trump campaign denied that Trump skipped interviews with CNBC, NBC, and the Shade Room, a black-owned media outlet, because of his taxing schedule, as reported by Politico on Friday.
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But Harris used the incident to flip the script on the 78-year-old Trump, who spent most of his campaign questioning President Joe Biden’s mental capabilities.
“He is, as we have seen, only focused on himself. And now, he is ducking debates and canceling interviews,” Harris said Friday at a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “And check this out — his own campaign team recently said it is because of exhaustion.”
“Well, if you are exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you are fit for the toughest job in the world,” said Harris, who turns 60 on Sunday. “So, for all these reasons and more, we are here because we know it is time to turn the page.”
If he wins the election next month, Trump would be the oldest person in the nation’s history to be elected president. But Harris, who is a generation younger than Trump, has sought to highlight his physical health in the final stretch of the election.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, the Trump campaign said the former president is “running laps around Kamala Harris on the campaign trail, engaging in far more interviews, hosting more events, and rallies.” Harris has been criticized for avoiding the media, though she has begun to sit down for more interviews in the campaign’s closing weeks.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump criticized Harris for not attending a charity dinner in New York the night before. “She should’ve been last night with the Catholics,” he said. “Tell me when you’ve seen me take even a little bit of a rest. I’m not even tired. I’m really exhilarated.”
Over the weekend, Harris released her medical report in an attempt to goad Trump to release his own. The former president’s campaign responded by directing reporters to two previous medical reports from Dr. Ronny Jackson, Trump’s personal doctor.
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With 18 days until the election, Harris and Trump are barnstorming Michigan. Harris is also campaigning in Lansing and Oakland County later on Friday. Trump, meanwhile, will speak with voters at a roundtable in Auburn Hills.
Harris hopes to increase turnout among union workers in the important blue-wall state, blasting Trump at her rally as “one of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs in American history.” Yet polling from Real Clear Politics shows Trump leading Harris, 48.3% to 47.4%, according to an average of surveys in the Wolverine State.
Ross O’Keefe contributed to this report.