Trump Attacks Harris as ‘Radical’ in First Rally Since Her Ascent

Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday blasted Vice President Kamala Harris as radically liberal and blamed her for what he called the Biden administration’s “disastrous” policies, repurposing attacks he had long leveled at President Biden now that Ms. Harris is poised to be his opponent in November.

But in a signal of how his campaign strategy may shift after Mr. Biden dropped out of the race and Ms. Harris cleared the field of potential Democratic rivals, Mr. Trump at a rally in Charlotte, N.C., denigrated her time as a prosecutor and attacked Ms. Harris as “radical” on abortion, an effort to undercut what may be two of her strongest arguments to voters.

Ms. Harris has vowed to restore nationwide abortion rights, an issue that has galvanized Democrats and lifted their candidates since Supreme Court justices appointed by Mr. Trump overturned Roe v. Wade. She is expected in her campaign to highlight a “prosecutor versus felon” message that will draw attention to her background as a prosecutor while pointing to Mr. Trump’s four criminal cases and 34 felony convictions in Manhattan.

Mr. Trump, who earlier this year said he supported states’ setting their own abortion policies, has never appeared particularly comfortable talking about the issue. In Charlotte, he stumbled to pronounce the word “abortion,” as he called Ms. Harris “a total radical” on the issue, then falsely claimed that she supported abortion “even after birth, the execution of a baby,” something no state law supports.

Later, Mr. Trump argued that she had been too lax on crime as San Francisco’s district attorney and overly supportive of criminal justice reform policies such as ending cash bail. To underscore his point, he announced that he had received the endorsement of the National Association of Police Organizations, whose president he brought onstage.

“Kamala Harris wants to be the president for savage criminals, illegal aliens,” Mr. Trump said to a crowd of thousands in the Bojangles Coliseum, many of whom waved “Back the Blue” signs. “I will be the president for law-abiding Americans.”