Donald Trump tells Western Pa. crowd to ‘fire’ Kamala Harris: ‘You’re a s— vice president’
The former president and GOP nominee spoke at an airport in Latrobe, criticizing his opponent with an expletive.
Republican Donald Trump returned to Western Pennsylvania on Saturday, telling supporters in the closing weeks of the presidential campaign that his trade and immigration policies would herald a “new golden age” in America.
Appearing in Latrobe, the former president accused Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, of enabling what he called an “invasion” of undocumented immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. As he has in the past, Trump questioned Harris’ intelligence and said she was more liberal than prominent progressives such as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind., Vt.), whom he dubbed “Crazy Bernie.”
“So you have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore. We can’t stand you. You’re a s— vice president, the worst,” Trump said. “… Kamala, you’re fired. Get the hell out of here.”
Speaking at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, Trump praised the venue’s namesake, the late golf legend and Latrobe native. “This is a guy that was all man,” Trump said of Palmer, calling him “strong and tough.”
“When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh my God, that’s unbelievable,’ Trump said. The Harris’ campaign posted a clip of those remarks on X, calling the episode a “long confused ramble.”
The campaign referred to her remarks about Trump earlier Saturday in Detroit. “He’s becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged,” she said. “The American people are seeing it, witnessing it in real time.”
Latrobe is a predominantly white, working-class borough of 8,000 in rural Westmoreland County, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. Trump carried Westmoreland County with 63% of the vote in 2020, when he lost Pennsylvania and the Electoral College to then-candidate Joe Biden.
Both campaigns see Pennsylvania as a critical battleground state, and Harris is scheduled to return on Monday. Her campaign said she will appear in Chester County with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who has endorsed the Democratic vice president. The Trump campaign said it would host a “Black Men’s Barbershop Talk” roundtable event on Sunday in Philadelphia with U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R., Fla.).
As he seeks to retake the White House, Trump is again counting on voters in rural and postindustrial areas like Westmoreland, where coal mining was once a major industry. Supporters standing behind Trump at Saturday’s rally held signs that said “Save our Fracking” and “Save our Steel.”
About an hour into Trump’s speech, several steelworkers joined him on stage for a picture and presented him with a hard hat with his name on it. The United Steelworkers union has endorsed Harris — and reiterated its support with a post on X Saturday — but Trump says he has the support of rank-and-file members.
He repeated his criticism of an influx of Haitian migrants in the small Western Pennsylvania town of Charleroi, who are in the country legally under a humanitarian program. Trump maintained his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and reiterated his unsubstantiated claim that Harris didn’t actually work at McDonald’s. The vice president has cited that work history as part of her middle-class upbringing. Trump is expected to visit the Philadelphia area on Sunday to “work the fry cooker” at a McDonald’s, The Inquirer has reported.
Trump took on a familiar cast of perceived political adversaries: generals who have criticized him, like Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who reportedly called Trump a “fascist” (“what a bunch of lightweights,” Trump said); federal prosecutors (“the Department of Injustice”); and Atlanta-area District Attorney Fani Willis, whose election interference racketeering case against Trump has stalled (“you had Fani – F-A-N-I … that was a scam”).
The rally in Western Pennsylvania Saturday came days after Trump campaigned in Montgomery County, where, after two of his supporters experienced medical emergencies, his town hall-style event took an unusual musical turn. Trump stood on stage for about 30 minutes while music played, swaying to his playlist.
The Harris campaign said he “acted confused.”
Local Republicans maintained Trump and the crowd were just having a good time.
Staff writer Aliya Schneider contributed to this article.