Former President Donald J. Trump began his news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday, standing in front of seven American flags. He placed a bound brief on a lectern and said he would focus on the southern border, where his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, is heading Friday.
This lasted about 10 minutes.
Mr. Trump quickly appeared bored with the remarks he was reading and repeatedly drifted to other topics. He talked about inflation, accused Ms. Harris of lying about her job at McDonald’s years ago and harbored fury over the way ABC News debate moderators handled his confrontation with Ms. Harris almost three weeks ago.
Early in the news conference, Mr. Trump struggled at times to clearly express his thoughts or make his point. He stumbled over certain words while reading remarks he clearly hadn’t written. He started one thought after another depending on whether the words were associated with something else, rather than having a clear line.
After accusing Ms. Harris of ruining San Francisco while she was district attorney, a recent favorite line of attack, Mr. Trump continued with tangents that vaguely related to the city of San Francisco, as opposed to reason for which he was at headquarters. lectern.
“And you know, you can go to California, where she ruined San Francisco,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “She destroyed. San Francisco may have been the greatest city in the world 16 or 18 years ago, and today it’s a virtually unlivable place. And I hate saying that. I have property in San Francisco. That’s not a nice thing to say, but it’s way beyond my purview. It’s an unlivable place. It was the best city. Bob Tisch from Loews, a friend of mine. A great guy. A wonderful man. He was in San Francisco. He was in Chicago. He had big businesses everywhere, the Tisch family. Bob Tisch told me he thought San Francisco was the greatest city in the country. He died quite some time ago. But San Francisco probably was. And now it’s not even livable.
He then criticized Governor Gavin Newsom of California, criticized Ms Harris for not uttering the phrase “illegal alien”, accused Democrats of a coup, then highlighted reports that the husband of Nancy Pelosi reportedly sold Visa stock before the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company as evidence that Ms. Pelosi “should be prosecuted.” He also said Ms. Pelosi should be prosecuted for security breaches at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob invaded the building, some of them searching for Ms. Pelosi.
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