With Harris approaching her 60th birthday, Democrats portray Trump as aging and "unbalanced."
Harris' presidential campaign is escalating doubts about the former president's mental and physical capability in the waning weeks of the 2024 presidential race.
"He's becoming progressively unpredictable and unreliable, and it demands a reaction," Harris said to the press in Detroit last Saturday. "I believe the American people deserve better than someone who seems to be unpredictable."
This strategy represents a shift from the approach politicians, specifically Republicans headed by Trump, used for years to criticize President Joe Biden. It's an unexpected change of tactics for Democrats after the 81-year-old incumbent retired in July.
Harris herself has highlighted age as a distinct advantage in recent discussions, distinguishing herself from Biden – and, by implication, the 78-year-old Trump as well.
"I represent a new era of leadership," Harris stated during an interview on Fox News.
"It's a new era of thoughts, more than anything else," she added in an interview with NBC News two days later.
Harris' campaign capitalized on a Politico report suggesting that a Trump advisor rejected an opportunity for the former president to appear on a podcast due to exhaustion. Trump's campaign denied the accusation of fatigue, without addressing the conflict with the podcast.
Harris' senior advisor, David Plouffe, expressed his concerns to CNN, suggesting that the Politico report raised legitimate questions about a candidate's capability to sustain the campaign trail if they're too exhausted.
Harris' campaign also launched a new television advertisement presenting a second Trump term as "more unpredictable, unstable, and unchecked."
Harris, before a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Friday, expressed her belief that it's a "valid question" whether Trump is "capable of handling the job" as president, pointing to his multiple refusals to participate in high-profile media events.
"I've been hearing reports that his team, at least, is saying he's exhausted, and that's suggested as the explanation for why he's not doing interviews. And, of course, he's not doing the CNN town hall. He refuses to engage in another debate," Harris said. "And, you know, being president of the United States is probably one of the toughest jobs in the world, so we must ask: If he's exhausted with the campaign trail, is he capable of handling the job?"
She also brought up former Trump administration officials who have expressed opposition to his bid for re-election.
The Democrats' emphasis on the report about Trump's alleged exhaustion was made just one week after Harris' campaign issued a medical history report from her doctor. Harris subsequently criticized Trump for his lack of disclosure on his health record.
CNN has reached out to Trump's campaign for comment on Harris' criticism of his fitness for office.
Leading Harris supporters have additionally embraced the strategy of portraying Trump as elderly and mentally unstable in recent days.
Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, during his visit to Pittsburgh last week, pointed to an incident where the former president abruptly halted a scheduled town hall and played music for his supporters, implying Trump's mental instability.
"It was strange, but if this was your grandfather, you would take the keys away from him," Walz said.
Former President Barack Obama, while campaigning for Harris in Arizona on Friday, told a Tucson crowd that America does not need "an older, more eccentric Donald Trump," emphasizing that Trump's speeches lack coherence and sense.
Obama lampooned Trump's references to the "late, great Hannibal Lecter," the cannibal villain from the movie "The Silence of the Lambs," asserting, "Have you seen him lately? He is speaking incoherently, without a clear theme. He's talking about Hannibal Lecter, then he's talking about something else."
Trump, at times, seems to link migrants seeking asylum in the United States to the character of Lecter being detained in an insane asylum. He hasn't given a clear explanation for connecting the two ideas. However, he has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that foreign governments are transporting insane people to the U.S.-Mexico border. It's unclear whether Trump is mixing up insane asylums and the process of seeking asylum – two separate matters.
Obama also criticized Trump for referring to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot as "a day of love," and for declaring himself the "father of IVF," referring to in vitro fertilization. "I don't understand what that means. Neither do you," Obama said of his successor's remarks.
"You would worry if your grandfather was behaving this way," Obama said. "Imagine it coming from a man who wants unchecked power."
The ongoing discussion about Trump's fitness for office has also extended into the realm of politics, with critics questioning his ability to handle the demands of the presidency due to his unpredictable behavior.
Given Harris' critical stance towards Trump's mental and physical capabilities, it's evident that the politics of the 2024 presidential race are increasingly focusing on the candidates' health and mental fitness.
