Trump talks about reporters being shot and says he shouldn’t have left White House after 2020 loss

Harris pushed back at Trump’s characterizations of U.S. elections, telling reporters on Sunday that Trump’s comments are ”meant to distract from the fact that we have and support free and fair elections in our country.” Those ”good systems” were in place in 2020, Harris said, and ”he lost.”

The vice president said she trusts the upcoming vote tally and urged voters, ”in particular people who have not yet voted to not fall for this tactic, which I think includes suggesting to people that if they vote, their vote won’t matter.”

Trump, for his part, acknowledged that he was sidestepping his usual approach with his conspiratorial speech. He repeatedly talked about disregarding the advice of his aides, repeating their feedback in a mocking voice and insisting that he had to talk about election fraud despite their objections.

Trump at one point suggested that he wouldn’t deliver this version of his speech again: ”I hope you’ve enjoyed this,” he said, ”because I’m only doing this one time.”

Indeed, his next speech a few hours later at an airport in Kinston, North Carolina, returned to his usual script, alternating between prepared remarks and familiar stories. Trump praised David McCormick, the businessman running for Senate in Pennsylvania, appearing to briefly lose track of his location but quickly recovering.

”Where’s David? Is he around some place?” Trump said. ”You know we just left him. He’s a great guy.”