Trump warns Kamala Harris will unleash ‘regulatory jihad’ on energy, reveals how he’ll use nuclear reactors as swing state tour kicks off
Donald Trump accused Kamala Harris of launching a “regulatory jihad” to shut down power plants across the country, outlining his own vision of an energy-independent, “manufacturing-dominant” nation.
Trump gave a speech in Pennsylvania on Monday, his second visit to the state in two days, as he travels to states where the election is still uncertain.
As Harris is crowned at the party convention in Chicago, he must revive a campaign that has been hit hard by the Democratic Party’s late change of candidates.
He warned his audience of about 300 supporters that his rival wanted to ban fracking and impose a carbon tax.
“Kamala is also now waging a regulatory jihad to shut down power plants all over America,” he said, adding that 50 plants have been closed since she and Joe Biden took office.
Donald Trump kicked off a week of counterprogramming for the Democratic convention on Monday with a speech on the economy in York, Pennsylvania, his second visit to the state in two days.
“They’re shutting down nuclear, they’re shutting down coal, they’re shutting down everything. We’re not going to have this like California, where they have blackouts all the time.”
He drafted a protectionist plan to shield American industry from cheap foreign imports, made plans for more nuclear power, again opposed Nippon Steel’s planned purchase of US Steel and outlined how he would lead an administration that, unlike Harris, would primarily cut regulations.
He gave his speech at Precision Components Group in York, which makes components for the defence and aerospace sectors, among others.
Trump is campaigning in a series of crucial states this week as he tries to regain his footing in a race that was disrupted by Joe Biden’s decision to step aside.
Candidates traditionally let their rivals take center stage for a week at their party conventions. Not Trump. On Tuesday, he goes to Michigan, then North Carolina, then Arizona.
On Monday, he scheduled his speech for the early afternoon, knowing it would make news well before Biden’s big speech in Chicago.
Allies outside the campaign say they are increasingly frustrated by his lack of focus, evident in his disjointed speaking on his Bedminster golf course last week.
“He can’t keep doing this,” said one. “His attempts to hurt Kamala are getting tangled up in a list of grievances.”
He gave his speech at Precision Components Group in York, which makes components for the defence and aerospace sectors, among others.
Supporters line up for Trump’s appearance at Precision Custom Components
At times, Trump seemed to deny the new reality and that Biden is no longer his opponent.
And he continues to personally attack his new rival, questioning her racial identity as she vie to become the nation’s first black, female president.
“If you have a policy debate about the president, he wins,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
‘Donald Trump, the provocateur and showman, may not win this election.’
Trump has seen his commanding lead in national polls shrink or even reverse since Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee.
On Monday, he gave a 52-minute speech. Despite digressions about winning Pennsylvania and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, he largely stuck to his prepared speech.
He promised a historic commitment to build “advanced small modular nuclear reactors.”
Trump listed the benefits for Pennsylvania with the message: jobs, jobs, jobs
“They’re super clean and very cheap, but they’re absolutely safe,” he said.
‘Under Kamala’s new scam, billions and billions of tax dollars are being sent to China to subsidize solar panel factories, wind turbines, battery production and car manufacturing.’
ASMNR reactors produce about a third of the energy of conventional reactors. Their small size means they are easier to find locations for and there are fewer technical challenges to plugging them into existing infrastructure.
Trump spoke in an echoing brick warehouse full of mechanical elevators and manufacturing equipment, festooned with American flags and banners bearing the day’s message: “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”
“Instead of closing power plants, we will open dozens and dozens more, and it will happen quickly,” he said,
“Kamala stands for the demise of energy and the destruction of factories. She will destroy factories like this. I stand for American energy independence and manufacturing dominance.”