Trump Fans Furious Over His “Coward” Decision on Kamala Debate

Donald Trump’s own right-wing social media venture, Truth Social, seemingly turned against him as users got #TrumpIsACoward to trend over the weekend.  

The derisive hashtag made rounds on X (formerly Twitter) before it started trending on Truth Social Sunday, Raw Story reported, after Trump said he’d finally agreed to debate Vice President Kamala Harris—only, it wasn’t the September 10 debate hosted by ABC News that the two candidates had previously agreed to at all. 

Rather, Trump suggested a debate on September 4, hosted by Fox News and moderated by hosts Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum. 

While the conservative media company originally said it was “open to discussion” on the terms, in his post, Trump offered another demand: an arena packed with onlookers to watch him perform—a far cry from the previous debate hosted on CNN, which had no audience.

Trump cited ongoing litigation against ABC News and host George Stephanopolous as his new reason for bailing on ABC News’s debate. 

For weeks, Trump has offered different excuses as to why he can’t debate Harris on the same terms he’d agreed to debate Biden.

On Friday, he argued he didn’t need to debate Harris because he was already leading in the polls—a line that turned out not to be true. A week earlier, he’d had a completely different excuse. His team claimed he couldn’t debate a Democratic candidate who wasn’t officially nominated, or even endorsed by former President Barack Obama. Within hours, Harris had secured Obama’s endorsement. 

Since Harris joined the fray as the presumptive Democratic nominee, it seems more than a few of Trump’s fans have begun questioning his judgment and defecting to greener pastures (writing in Ron Paul).

Michael Tyler, the communications director for Harris’s campaign, responded to Trump’s challenge in a statement Saturday to NBC News. 

“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out. He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10,” Tyler said.

“The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience. We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to. Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th.”

Who would have thought that one of Donald Trump’s biggest slogans would end up biting him in the ass.

Apparently not his campaign team, who opted to stamp “You’re Fired” all over a rally’s official signage in an ironic turn of events for the former reality TV star. The signs used at Trump’s downtown Atlanta rally on Saturday read, in their entirety, “Lyin’ Kamala, You’re Fired!”—but the choice to print the first part of the message in a much smaller font failed to translate well over TV screens.

Instead, millions of Americans witnessed the Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees speak in front of hundreds of fans wearing shirts and waving signs that appeared to call for their exit.

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, spent the rally fearmongering on crime and immigration—including claiming that the “suburbs will be overrun with violent crime and savage foreign gangs” if they don’t win in November—while repeatedly attempting to chip away at Vice President Kamala Harris’s momentum. But still failing to craft an actual campaign against the sudden Democratic presidential nominee, Trump and Vance instead lobbed a flurry of half-baked, kindergarten-grade insults at her.

“She happens to be a really low-IQ individual. We don’t need a low-IQ individual,” Trump said of Harris on Saturday. “She’s Bernie Sanders but not as smart.”

In another portion of the rally, Trump lied that Harris wants “people to stop eating red meat” and wants to “get rid of your cows. No more cows.” He also claimed that she doesn’t want “anyone to say Merry Christmas.”

And, in a shocking side point, Trump chose to congratulate his Russian ally, President Vladimir Putin—not President Joe Biden or any of the U.S. diplomats or allies—on the recent prisoner exchange that brought Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich back after a year-long detention, as well as two other American citizens.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is pushing two simultaneous narratives about Vice President Kamala Harris that, if they actually happened to be true, would just cancel each other out.

Harris and President Joe Biden joined families of three Americans who had been imprisoned in Russia at Joint Base Andrew in Maryland late Thursday night. Biden had helped to facilitate the release of the former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.

Despite the remarkable homecoming, MAGA used the occasion to push its own conspiracy theories about Biden and Harris. RNC Research, an account on X run by Trump’s campaign, posted a video of Biden and Harris on the tarmac.

“Kamala watches Biden shuffle aimlessly across the tarmac and nearly trip up the stairs of the plane (from which the passengers had long disembarked),” the account wrote. “This is the obvious decline Kamala covered up in her thirst for power—the scandal of the century.”

There’s a lot of problems with this post, so let’s go through them one by one. The so-called “decline” the post refers to was Biden boarding the plane to thank the pilots, not wandering into an empty plane with Harris left dumbfounded on the tarmac.

In one sentence, Trump’s campaign suggested both that Harris covered up Biden’s aging to keep him in office and simultaneously hoped that she would be given the reins. In terms of fictionalized evil schemes, one can’t both plot to keep the leader in power and also plot to oust him. Complicity or coup? MAGA Republicans need to pick one bedtime story or the other, but there just isn’t enough time for both.

This post is one small window into the Trump campaign’s scrambled efforts to shift their rhetoric around Harris, whom they are now forced to blame for everything they once tried to pin on Biden. Thursday’s prisoner swap presented a particularly sore spot for Trump, who seemed pretty miffed he wasn’t in on the complex negotiations—but lashing out like this is particularly pathetic.

Republican attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris are becoming too much for some of Donald Trump’s inner circle.

Peter Navarro, an economist who worked in the Trump White House, was guest-hosting Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast Friday, since the other former Trump adviser is serving a prison sentence for contempt of Congress. Navarro began panicking over Republicans making personal attacks against Harris’s personal life or the way she laughs, telling them to “shut up.” 

“Do we get women when we call Kamala a slut or make fun of her cackle, Ted Cruz?” Navarro asked, picking a fight with the Texas senator. “We do not. Shut up. That gets us nowhere!”

“Women, when they hear that crap, are resentful, particularly of old white men pulling that crap. Shut up,” Navarro, who is himself an old white man who served a four-month sentence in prison for contempt of Congress, added.

Navarro didn’t mention Trump by name, but Trump has been calling Harris “laughing Kamala” and alluding to her personal life in different smears. His mention of “old white men” may also be taking into account Trump’s racial attacks, particularly on Wednesday when the former president spoke at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. While some Republicans have disapproved of those comments, others have defended Trump.

The more Republicans make these attacks, the more it makes them look bad and strengthens Democrats’ effective attacks on GOP weirdness. Even an important figure in the world of MAGA like Navarro can see this backfiring. Still, he didn’t mention Trump by name, and the GOP will continue to follow the lead of the former president and convicted felon. Will Trump take the hint, or put the GOP in a deep hole as November approaches?

Former President Donald Trump’s newest excuse for why he won’t debate Vice President Kamala Harris just doesn’t have the numbers to back it up.

During an interview on Fox Business Friday morning, host Maria Bartiromo asked Trump if he would consider going head-to-head with Harris.

“Well, I want to. And we’re leading in the polls, it seems, by quite a bit, still. She’s better than he is, but ultimately I think she’ll be worse than him,” Trump said, referring to President Joe Biden.

“I mean, right now I say, why should I do a debate?” Trump said. “I’m leading in the polls. And, everybody knows her, everybody knows me.”

Trump doesn’t think he needs to debate Harris because he’s already beating her, but it’s not actually clear that that’s the case. Several national polls released this week found that Harris was polling ahead of Trump.

A poll conducted by RMG Research between July 29 and 31 and published Friday found that Harris was leading by a whopping five points at 47 percent, compared to Trump’s 42 percent. A YouGov/The Economist poll, which surveyed people between July 27 and 30, found that Harris was beating Trump by two points, 46 percent to 44 percent.

A Leger survey published Wednesday, which was conducted between July 26 and 28, found that Harris was beating Trump 49 percent to 46 percent. A Civiqs poll published Wednesday for the Daily Kos found that Harris was ahead by four points, with her sitting at 49 percent to his 45 percent. These are just a few of the polls that have placed Harris ahead of Trump.

Project 538, which aggregates national poll results, including some of those listed above, found that Harris was squarely ahead, polling at 45 percent to Trump’s 43 percent. Over the course of the week, Harris has successfully widened the gap between her and Trump.

This isn’t the first time Trump’s excuse for getting out of a debate has evaporated right in front of him. Trump’s team previously said that they would not schedule any more presidential debates until the Democrats formally nominated their candidate, specifically citing Harris’s lack of support from former President Barack Obama. Within hours, she had secured Obama’s endorsement.

Harris’s campaign released a statement in response to Trump’s newest lame excuse. “Donald Trump needs to man up. He’s got no problem spreading lies and hateful garbage at his rallies or in interviews with right-wing commentators. But he’s apparently too scared to do it sitting across the stage from the Vice President of the United States,” the statement said.

Harris’s campaign has insisted that she will be attending the presidential debate hosted by ABC News, which is scheduled for September 10, regardless of whether her opponent deigns to appear.

“She’ll be waiting there to see if he shows up,” the statement said.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many House Democrats have a favorite to be Kamala Harris’s running mate: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

The Hill reports that several Democrats have been advocating for Walz, who was a member of Congress himself from 2006 until 2019 and was well liked among his fellow Democrats. That includes the former House speaker, who was instrumental in convincing Joe Biden to withdraw from the race and gave a lot of early support to Harris.

One source told The Hill that Pelosi “is always especially fond of former House colleagues” when asked about Harris’s running mate, a nod to Walz.

Other House Democrats echoed the sentiment. “My sentimental favorite is Tim Walz,” said Representative Jim McGovern. “He was a great member of Congress. The people I know in Minnesota tell me he’s a great governor.… But more importantly, he’s a good guy. He’s down to earth, he’s the real deal, there’s nothing phony about him, and he calls ‘em as he sees ‘em, and he tells it like it is, and I appreciate the candor.”

“I want somebody who’s really strongly pro-labor and understands labor, because this is a big part of the working-class agenda and making sure that we win working-class votes,” Representative Pramila Jayapal said. “I really like Governor Walz. I like the things that he’s been able to do. I like that he’s from a rural town; I like that he’s got a military background.”

Walz’s popularity has grown since the vice president entered the race more than two weeks ago. He’s made successful critiques of Republicans like J.D. Vance and held his own against the right wing on Fox News. If Pelosi is in favor of Walz joining Harris’s ticket, that could be a deciding factor and make many Democrats, whether elected or rank-and-file, very happy.

It looks like some of Donald Trump’s devoted fans are beginning to lose faith in their candidate.

Gun rights activist and killer of human beings Kyle Rittenhouse announced Thursday that he would be writing in Ron Paul’s name on his ballot in November, shortly after posting that he’d had the “incredible pleasure” of meeting the former U.S. representative.

Hours later, Rittenhouse gave a video statement on X explaining his decision not to back Trump. “A lot of people are upset that I said I’m going to be writing in Ron Paul for president of the United States. And that is true, I will be writing in Ron Paul,” Rittenhouse said.

“Unfortunately, Donald Trump had bad advisers, making him bad on the Second Amendment, and that is my issue. If you cannot be completely uncompromisable on the Second Amendment, I will not vote for you, and I will write somebody else in. We need champions for the Second Amendment or our rights would be eaten away and eroded each day.”

Rittenhouse visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November 2021, shortly after he was acquitted of all charges for killing two people and seriously wounding another during the anti-racism and anti–police brutality protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that summer. Rittenhouse “was a fan,” Trump gushed on Fox News afterward. Not anymore.

It seems Rittenhouse isn’t the only one feeling disappointed with Trump’s trajectory. The former president has also been receiving quite a bit of unsolicited advice from his followers on Truth Social.

Beneath a post Thursday night that celebrated the election of Tennessee state Senator Bobby Harshbarger, whom Trump had previously endorsed, Trump’s followers pleaded with him to change his approach to the presidential race, according to Raw Story.

Multiple Truth Social users begged Trump to lay off his personal attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Mr President I hope you are doing well I just want to say that you need not put kamela down as a person,” wrote user @stopeow. “Women hate that.”

Another user, @Th3ManyFacedGod, wrote, “You have to change the noise and start attacking Kamala Harris policy stances and not Kamala Harris the person!!!”

A third Truth Social user accused Trump of “blowing it.”

“Come on Trump. I love you, but STOP giving them ammunition!” wrote user @nanadof7. “Just say ‘who cares what she is? Is she qualified?’ I thought you were smarter than that but you’re acting like a dumbass. Don’t lose this election for us! Call Kelly Ann and listen to somebody smarter than you. You’re blowing it.”

Earlier this week, Trump took some particularly ugly shots at Harris, questioning her race and suggesting she hadn’t passed the bar exam, leaving Republican lawmakers “embarrassed” and “uncomfortable,” according to The Hill. Trump has since doubled down on his race-based attacks on Harris, signaling an unwillingness to change course.

Donald Trump still can’t handle being called “weird” by Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats.

In an interview with conservative radio host Clay Travis Thursday, Trump attempted to fire back by saying his opponents are weird themselves.

“They’re the weird ones. Nobody’s ever called me weird. I’m a lot of things, but weird I’m not. And I’m upfront. And he’s not either, I will tell you. J.D. is not at all. They are,” Trump said, defending both himself and his running mate, J.D. Vance.

“If you’ve ever seen her with the laugh and everything else, that’s a weird deal going on there,” Trump said.

The Harris campaign posted audio from the interview on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday evening, poking fun at the former president and convicted felon.

Trump has been struggling to come up with a response to being called weird, and has just been calling Harris weird for the last several days, with no success. His fellow Republicans have also tried the same thing and been met with mockery online. Privately, Trump has reportedly complained to his inner circle about how much media attention the attacks have been getting. 

It’s more proof that the “weird” attack line is working, and it’s been a long time coming. It has coincided with Harris erasing Trump’s polling advantage and crushing him in fundraising. The question is how Harris and the Democrats build on it to ensure victory in November.

Elon Musk’s new super PAC is collecting scores of voters’ personal information under the guise of inviting them to register to vote, as part of his effort to boost Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Earlier this month, Musk denied reports that he would be donating $45 million a month to Trump’s campaign during an interview with right-wing commentator Jordan Peterson. Instead, the technocrat clarified that he had created a new super PAC, called the America PAC.

Musk’s America PAC is a door-to-door canvassing operation, which allows it to work in direct coordination with the Trump campaign, according to an FEC advisory from earlier this year. This allows Musk, and his fellow Silicon Valley donors, to stick their hands—and their cash—right into the presidential race on Trump’s behalf.

How exactly they plan to do this is even more disturbing.

The America PAC has launched a series of digital ads using the image of Trump’s assassination, to invite people browsing Google to “register to vote,” CNBC reported Friday. In states where the outcome is certain, such as California, the ads actually do direct them to a voter registration site.

But in key battleground states, users are directed to a very different page, which prompts them to enter their phone number, address, and age. Once complete, users are then greeted by a “Thank You” page, with no actual link to voter registration in sight.

Musk’s America PAC has poured $800,000 into digital advertisements to target voters in the key battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to AdImpact. The information collected from user responses to this ad campaign will inform the PAC’s canvassing efforts in those states.

Musk’s America PAC has already attracted the financial support of a few Silicon Valley billionaires. Douglas Leone and Shaun Maguire, general partners at Sequoia Capital, donated a whopping $1 million and $500,000 respectively, according to The American Prospect. (Their V.C. firm is also an investor in Musk’s SpaceX.) Joe Lonsdale, one of the co-founders of the military contractor Palantir, donated $1 million in June. Palantir was founded by Peter Thiel, who helped to fund J.D. Vance’s start in politics.

Apparently, Musk’s plan for the America PAC is already off to a rough start. After spending at least $15 million with In Field Strategies, a field vendor that organizes canvassers, the PAC ended its relationship with the company, two people familiar told The New York Times. It’s unclear what happened to that money, and now, more than 100 canvassers who had been hired by In Field on America PAC’s behalf in mid-June have been left scattered across the country, looking for work.

The PAC will now have to scramble to mount its canvassing campaign before early voting can begin, according to the Times. Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita called the Times report “more fake news … the New Program 100% better than the old gang. Solidly support this effort,” in a post on X.

The Egyptian government may have given $10 million to Donald Trump in 2017, violating U.S. law—but the investigation into the payment was squashed by Attorney General William Barr.

The Washington Post reports, citing unnamed sources, that an investigation began in 2017 that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi was seeking to give Trump $10 million to boost his 2016 election campaign. Federal investigators discovered in 2019 that, only five days before Trump was sworn into office, nearly $10 million in cash was withdrawn on behalf of an organization linked to Egyptian intelligence.

In the U.S., receiving funds from overseas is a federal crime. Federal investigators were trying to prove if any money actually moved from Egypt to Trump, and if that had anything to do with Trump’s decision to boost his campaign in its final days with $10 million of his own money.

But the investigation was halted by Trump’s Justice Department, which blocked FBI agents and prosecutors from accessing bank records that could provide the evidence. In the fall of 2019, Barr questioned whether there were sufficient grounds for the investigation to continue.

Barr directed the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in D.C., Jessie Liu, to examine the intelligence herself, and instructed FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide “adult supervision” on FBI agents Barr said were “hell-bent” on pursuing Trump’s records. Whether Wray (also appointed by Trump) did anything in response isn’t known, but in June 2020, the prosecutor Barr chose to oversee the investigation, Michael Sherwin, closed it down, citing insufficient evidence.

“Every American should be concerned about how this case ended,” said one of the Post’s sources. “The Justice Department is supposed to follow evidence wherever it leads—it does so all the time to determine if a crime occurred or not.”

The Post reviewed thousands of pages of government records, including sealed court filings and exhibits, and spoke to more than two dozen people who knew about the investigation. It’s a startling report, considering that Trump had faced a special counsel probe into his relationship with the Russian government, but not Egypt.

In recent months, Senator Bob Menendez was convicted of taking bribes of cash and gold bars while acting as a middleman between New Jersey businessmen and foreign governments, including Egypt. If Trump actually took money from Egypt, it would show a much higher level of corruption from the country as well as from Trump, who has yet to face any criminal sentences from the legal cases against him. But, thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling granting presidents immunity from “official acts,” if Trump actually took money illegally, can anything be done about it?