Republicans condemn Trump’s insults against Harris’s mental fitness: ‘Outrageous and unacceptable’ – The Boston Globe

Former president Donald Trump kept up his personal attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris at a weekend rally in Wisconsin, calling her “mentally impaired,” prompting some high-profile Republicans to condemn his remarks on Sunday morning political talk shows.

The Republican nominee also called for his Democratic rival to be “impeached and prosecuted,” for the Biden administration’s immigration policy at the Mexican border.

“Kamala is mentally impaired. If a Republican did what she did, that Republican would be impeached and removed from office, and rightfully so, for high crimes and misdemeanors,” Trump said at a rally in Wisconsin.

“Crooked Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” Trump added, citing no examples or evidence. “Sad. But lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way. There’s something wrong with Kamala. And I just don’t know what it is, but there is definitely something missing. And you know what, everybody knows it.”

Trump, who acknowledged that his remarks were “dark,” repeated the same insults at a rally on Sunday in Erie, Pa.

Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, an outspoken Trump critic and Republican Senate candidate, called Trump’s remarks attacking Harris as mentally disabled “outrageous and unacceptable” during an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

“I think all of that is outrageous and unacceptable,” Hogan told CBS News on Sunday. “And I’ve already called him out when he had the one interview where he was questioning her racial identity, and now he’s questioning her mental competence.”

“I think that’s insulting not only to the vice president but to people that actually do have mental disabilities,” Hogan added. “I’ve said for years that Trump’s divisive rhetoric is something we can do without.”

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham responded to Trump’s remarks during a CNN interview on Sunday, saying that he believes it would be more effective to focus on criticizing Harris’s policies rather than resorting to personal insults.

“I just think the better course to take is to prosecute the case that her policies are destroying the country,” Graham said on CNN. “I’m not saying she’s crazy; her policies are crazy.”

Trump’s latest personal insults against Harris, which came a day after she delivered remarks on immigration and border security, occurred despite campaign advisers and allies urging him to focus on key policy issues.

Minnesota Republican Representative Tom Emmer, a member of JD Vance’s debate preparation team, said the former president should stick to the issues during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I think Kamala Harris is the wrong choice for America,” Emmer told ABC News. “I think Kamala Harris is actually as bad or worse as the administration that we’ve witnessed for the last four years.”

“I think we should stick to the issues,” Emmer added. “The issues are, Donald Trump fixed it once. They broke it. He’s going to fix it again. Those are the issues.”

In recent months, Trump has made false claims that Harris “happened to turned Black” and frequently insulted her intelligence. Last month, during a press conference focused on the economy, Trump said that he was “entitled to personal attacks” against Harris.

Alyssa Vega can be reached at alyssa.vega@globe.com.