Trump Sidesteps Economy Speech in North Carolina to Launch Attacks on Kamala Harris
Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty
Donald Trump was expected to deliver a focused policy speech on the economy during his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, outlining his plans if re-elected in November. However, instead of sticking to the teleprompter, Trump veered off script to launch a series of attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, questioning the importance of the economy in the process.
One of the key moments in Trump’s speech came when he admitted he didn’t fully believe in the significance of discussing the economy. “They say it’s the most important subject. I’m not sure it is, but they say it is,” Trump remarked, signaling his reluctance to engage deeply with the topic, told NBC News.
During the event, Trump brought Scott Bessent, whom he described as “one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street,” onto the stage. He credited the success of the economy solely to his own leadership and warned that if Harris were elected, the stock market would crash—an echo of the claims he made about President Joe Biden during the 2020 election.
Ironically, as Trump was making these claims, the Dow Jones had just crossed 40,000, prompting skepticism from observers. “I thought Kamala crashed the economy?” asked software engineer and Newsitics writer Alex Cole on X.
Journalist Aaron Rupar observed, “Trump clearly doesn’t buy the speech he’s reading,” a sentiment echoed by legal analyst Allison Gill, who reposted Rupar’s video, adding, “Trump doesn’t think the economy is important.” Gill further criticized Trump for his negative remarks about the United States, calling him a “weird draft dodger” for attacking the country as being like a “third-world nation.”
Political analyst Pyotr Kurzin noted that after only a month on the campaign trail, Harris appeared to have more confidence in the economy than Trump. National security lawyer Bradley Moss also took aim at Trump, referencing his controversial comments about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz during the 2020 George Floyd protests. Trump had claimed credit for “forcing” Walz to call in the National Guard, a statement Moss linked to the sexual assault and harassment allegations against Trump, saying, “Trump is, as we now know, very experienced with forcing himself onto other people.”
Moss also critiqued Trump’s approach to the economy, suggesting the Harris campaign could easily counter with an ad juxtaposing Trump’s remarks with news footage from January 2021. “I’ve heard incoherent talk like this from elderly relatives. I wouldn’t trust them with a steak knife, let alone the keys to power,” Moss added, underscoring the perceived disconnect between Trump’s rhetoric and his ability to lead.
