Donald Trump has detailed some of the tactical blunders he believes rival Kamala Harris made in her failed election campaign against him – starting with her decision to enter the race.
‘Take the assignment. First, because you have to know what you’re good at,” Trump said, becoming flustered when asked about her worst mistakes in history. interview with Time Magazine.
Then Trump, who flooded the zone with interviews — some friendly and some less so — ripped Harris’ media strategy.
He accused her of skipping traditional media interviews when her campaign stalled in its first weeks.
“I think they made a big tactical mistake by literally not talking to the press, even though it was a very friendly…a friendly interview, and they turned everyone away. They wouldn’t do the basics,” Trump said.
“And people, including myself, started saying, is there something wrong with her? What’s wrong? Why not do some basic interviewing?”
“And then she had some pretty botched interviews, and maybe it was highlighted more than it should.” In other words: if she had done the same interviews, but then another fifteen interviews, you wouldn’t have noticed much of it.’
Ultimately, Trump defeated her in all seven battleground states — although post-election post-mortems revealed other factors.
This included the Harris campaign’s lavish spending, along with shoddy field operations, while saddled with the baggage of an unpopular administration.
Harris never held a formal press conference during her campaign. She held several informal “chats” with the press, some of which were off-the-record. After avoiding formal interviews for weeks, she conducted a number of high-profile interviews, including “60 Minutes” in October, and MSNBC and CBS.
Donald Trump accused rival Kamala Harris of avoiding media interviews during a key period of the campaign
When she did interviews, some of her hesitant or “word salad” answers were parsed.
Trump — who spoke for 90 minutes or more at rallies and conducted several lengthy interviews while making controversial statements such as pardoning defendants on Jan. 6 — said the shortage was working against her.
“I think if she didn’t want to talk to anyone, then a light shone on her… And people said, is there something wrong with her?” Why would they? I mean, I’m doing this interview with you. “I did interviews with, if I had the time, anyone who would ask, I would do interviews,” he told his Time interviewers.
“I think the interview with Joe Rogan lasted almost three and a half hours,” Trump said.
(Trump gave a three-hour interview with the podcaster, making him late for his outdoor rally in northern Michigan — and subsequently gaining Rogan’s valuable endorsement).
Harris turned down an appearance with the popular podcaster, who has millions of followers, after talks fell through.
“I had a meeting that I was two and a half hours late for in Michigan. It was very cold. And you know what, we didn’t lose anyone,” he said, although supporters poured out of the rally after the announcement that he would be hours late.
Daniel Cormier, Joe Rogan and President-elect Donald Trump talk during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. Trump spoke about the importance of his interview with Rogan during the campaign and accused Kamala Harris of insufficient media involvement
“But I explained to him: Listen, I just did an interview. We had to win this thing and… but I was two and a half hours late. I didn’t know there would be three. I thought it would take an hour or something,” he continued.
“She put so much emphasis on interviews. Someone thought something was wrong, and I don’t think she ever recovered from that,” Trump said.
Trump shared his reflections on a day he took another victory lap on his way to his second term. He was named ‘Man of the Year’ by Time, an honor he previously received in 2016.
His affection for the magazine was so great that he took framed covers to Mar-a-Lago, which turned up in the investigation into classified documents. He also rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange and performed with his wife Melania and daughters Ivanka and Tiffany. On Wednesday, FBI Director Chris Wray announced he would resign, saving Trump from having to fire him after taking office. And Senate Republicans have even gotten involved with controversial nominees.