Former President Donald Trump openly admitted that he “hated” paying his employees overtime at the Trump Organization and would even replace those who spoke out about it – comments that the Harris campaign immediately responded to.
At a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump, who has used a proposal to end taxes on tips as a major talking point to bolster his pro-worker bona fides during the campaign, admitted that he would be better off if he did. t makes his thoughts about overtime publicly known.
“I shouldn't say this,” he said, but continued anyway.
“I know a lot about overtime. I hated giving overtime, I hated it. I would get other – I shouldn't say this – but I would get other people in the door. I wouldn't pay,” Trump said, adding: “This is going to lead to a lot more. I think it will be economically positive, but for that reason I don't even do it. I do it because, like the tax on overtime, it is so good.”
Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump, gestures during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Harris-Walz 2024 spokesperson Sarafina Chitika echoed the comments from Trump's latest rally, saying in an emailed statement to the Daily Beast: “Donald Trump is finally admitting it: He's built an entire career screwing employees . It's exactly what he did in the White House — trying to steal tips and overtime pay from millions of workers — and exactly what he plans to do in a second term.”
The campaign added: “Trump is a scab, plain and simple. He is selling snake oil lies in a desperate attempt to mislead voters. He cannot be trusted; the workers know it, and the voters know it. They will choose a champion who will stand with them in November by voting for Vice President Harris.”
It was just one of Trump's rambling comments at the rally — he also blamed the Biden administration for his small crowd in Wisconsin just a day earlier, calling his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris “mentally retarded.”
The attacks have drawn back from some notable Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
“I just think it's better to prosecute the case that her policies are destroying the country,” Graham told CNN. “I'm not saying she's crazy, her policies are crazy.”
Minnesota House Majority Representative Tom Emmer, also a member of J.D. Vance's debate prep team, told ABC News: “I think we need to stay on the issues. The problem is that Donald Trump once solved it. They destroyed it. He's going to fix it again. That – those are the problems.”
He doubled the offensive line on Sunday and again questioned his rival's mental acuity.
“Joe Biden became mentally disabled, sad, but Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way. There'There's something wrong with Kamala and I just won't do it'I don't know what it is, but there's definitely something missing, and you know what, everyone knows it,” he said, as the campaign played a video of Harris laughing above his head.
“She's a stupid person, a stupid person. I don't care,” Trump said at another point, as supporters chanted “lock her up.”
Trump revealed that he switched from calling his opponent “a Marxist” to a “communist” because “unfortunately no one knows what that is.” He reiterated calls for her impeachment and prosecution.
Additionally, the former president repeated his baseless attacks on Harris about her summer job at McDonald's decades ago, claiming she “never worked there” and that it was a “total lie.”
Similar repeated attacks were directed at ABC News' “pretty boy,” David Muir, for his fact-checking of the presidential debate.
“I still won by a wide margin,” Trump claimed.
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