CNN —
Former President Donald Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris “retarded” as she tried to convince top Republican donors to put more money into his campaign, The New York Times reported Saturday. Reported.
The former president’s offensive remarks were made last month during a dinner with donors at his penthouse apartment, according to the Times. Among the donors in attendance were President Trump’s former education secretary Betsy DeVos and his wife, as well as hedge fund manager Paul Singer, investment banker Warren Stevens and billionaire Joe Ricketts.
According to the Times, President Trump told a group of wealthy donors that his administration’s tax policies were favorable to them, and that they should be grateful and give more support to his campaign.
Sources told the Times that Trump was unhappy with the fundraising numbers because Harris continued to bring in more cash than his campaign.
“If money had guaranteed electoral success, Hillary Clinton would have been president,” the Trump campaign said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.
“President Trump is in better financial shape than ever and is leading in the polls,” campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt added.
Trump’s anger came late in the campaign as the race for the White House remains extremely close. At this rate, researchers at OpenSecret, a nonpartisan organization that tracks campaign finance, said in a report this week that Trump could have a hard time even matching the money he raised from political activities during the 2020 campaign. He pointed out that there is.
Meanwhile, CNN reported earlier this week that Harris has raised $1 billion since entering the race in late July. While other presidential candidates, along with their political parties, have exceeded the $1 billion threshold in past elections, Ms. Harris has crossed the threshold at an astonishing pace.
Trump has often made derogatory remarks about his opponents, including President Joe Biden when he was still in the race. Late last month, President Trump publicly insulted Harris’ mental health at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, calling her “mentally ill.”
As for Harris, she came under fire during her first presidential campaign in 2019 when she responded, “Well said,” to a long question from a voter who called Trump’s actions “mentally retarded.”
At the time, Harris posted an apology from her presidential campaign account on ” he said. Until now. ”
At a dinner last month, Trump repeated his recent attacks on Jewish voters who don’t support him, again saying, “They needed a head check,” according to the Times.
Trump used the same phrase multiple times during the campaign, insisting that Jewish voters would be partly to blame if he loses in November.
This article has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Fredreka Schouten, Alayne Treene and Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.
