Kamala Harris' speech at the Democratic National Convention drew the wrath of Donald Trump, who fired off a flurry of rebuttals, rebuttals and angry phone calls to television stations.
Trump posted 48 times to his Truth Social network during Harris' 37-minute presidential acceptance speech, which was nearly an hour shorter than his own speech at last month's Republican National Convention.
Shortly after, he called Fox News and launched into an incoherent tirade live on air until he was interrupted by the network's hosts.
“WHERE IS HUNTER,” Trump posted in capital letters at the beginning of his speech, a reference to Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, whose business and legal troubles made him a prime target for Republicans before the president dropped out of the race last month.
When Harris paid tribute to those who recommended her, Trump wrote, “Too many words of thanks, too rushed. What is happening to her?”
Later, as the vice president launched an offensive against his opponent, Trump brought up one of his favorite topics: himself. “IS SHE TALKING ABOUT ME?” he wrote, again in capital letters.
He focused primarily on Ms Harris, calling her a “Marxist” on multiple occasions and writing, “Why doesn't she do anything about the things she complains about?”
“There will be no future with Comrade Kamala Harris as she will lead us into Nuclear World War III,” he wrote. “She will never be respected by the tyrants of the world!”
Trump posted one of his longest, lengthy posts of the night after he accused Harris of pressuring Republican lawmakers to kill a bipartisan bill aimed at cracking down on immigration at the southern border.
“The border bill is one of the worst bills ever made and will allow millions of people into our country, it's just her political ploy!,” he wrote. “This bill will legalize illegal immigration and is a total disaster, weak and ineffective!”
Elsewhere, his concerns seemed trite, like when he took aim at Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Waltz, nicknamed “Coach Waltz” for his high school football coaching work. “Waltz was an assistant coach, not a coach,” Trump wrote.
And when Harris linked him to Project 2025, a far-right manifesto and blueprint for the next Republican president written by some of Trump's closest allies and former administration officials, he hit back angrily, claiming he had “nothing to do with it whatsoever,” despite delivering the keynote address at the annual conference of the group that founded the project.
In response to Trump's angry and often incoherent responses, Washington Post commentator Dan Baltz suggested that Harris's rise to the top of the Democratic field, replacing Joe Biden, had left Trump “in a bind” and unsure what to do after she beat him in the area he cares about most: the ratings.
“Harris ran against Biden and beat him on his own terms,” Baltz wrote. “Her supporters now match or exceed Biden's. Her supporters are just as enthusiastic as Biden's…Her convention ratings were higher than Biden's…He says he misses Biden, and it's clear.”
Ms Harris' speech drew a largely positive response from some conservatives, with former George W. Bush aide Scott Jennings telling CNN that her speech demonstrated her “persuasiveness” as president.
“She's anti-Biden because she looks young and she looks consistent,” he said. “The Republican backlash is that some of this is empty and obvious, there's no real substance to it, and they think they can ultimately fire her as an incumbent.”
“The question we're going to be asking over the next few months is how far has she gotten away from Joe Biden to prevent Republicans from portraying her as the incumbent. People are so upset about the Biden-Harris agenda on the economy that if Republicans tie her to the economic agenda, it undermines everything else.”
Even some MAGA-right Trump supporters grudgingly acknowledged that Harris's convention message posed a major threat to Trump's future.
In a video posted to X, conservative commentator and former Fox News and Newsmax host Eric Bolling said the Harris campaign was dominating the media landscape and blamed Trump for ceding control and failing to come up with new ideas.
“We're losing, we're losing the election,” he said in a visibly frustrated tone. “The level of enthusiasm on the left right now is overwhelming… They're trying to redefine the Democratic Party, they're trying to say the Democratic Party is the party of patriots, the party that cares about the country.
“They're wearing camo hats with Kamala Harris' name on them. Camouflage is ours! She had two American flags up during her speech last night. No Pride flag. They're redefining it and going after our independent voters. And by the way, what's going on with Fox News? … Democrats, Democrats, Democrats… The media is beating us down on the right.”
But Trump's reaction to her speech underscored his struggle to maintain discipline on the campaign trail, with Republicans like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham urging him to focus on policy instead of attacking Harris personally. During a Fox News call, Trump took offense when host Martha MacCallum suggested Harris was doing well in the polls, particularly with certain voter groups.
“She's not successful. I'm successful,” he said. “I'm doing well with Hispanic voters, I'm doing well with black men, I'm doing well with women.”
“It's only in your eyes that they seem that way, Martha. We get on very well.”
Eventually, McCollum's co-host, Bret Baier, cut him off and said, “Thank you for the live feedback.”
