Former president Donald Trump openly admitted that he “hated” to pay his workers overtime at the Trump organization and would even replace those who spoke out about it—comments the Harris campaign immediately seized upon.
Speaking at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump, who has used a proposal to end taxes on tips as a key talking point to bolster his pro-worker bona fides on the campaign trail, confessed that he would be better off if he didn’t make his thoughts on overtime publicly known.
“I shouldn’t say this,” he said, but continued on anyway.
“I know a lot about overtime. I hated to give overtime, I hated it. I’d get other–I shouldn’t say this–but I’d get other people in. I wouldn’t pay,” Trump said, adding: “This is going to lead to a lot more. I think it’s going to be economically positive, but I’m not even doing it for that reason. I’m doing it because, like the tax on overtime, it’s something so good.”
Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Harris-Walz 2024 spokesperson Sarafina Chitika latched onto the comments from Trump’s latest rally, saying in a statement emailed to the Daily Beast: “Donald Trump is finally owning up to it: He’s built an entire career on screwing over workers. It’s exactly what he did in the White House–trying to rip away tips and overtime pay for 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 trick voters. He can’t be trusted–workers know it, and voters know it. They’ll elect a champion who has their back by voting for Vice President Harris this November.”
It was only one of Trump’s disjointed comments during the rally—he also blamed the Biden administration for his small crowd size in Wisconsin just a day prior, during which he called his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris “mentally disabled.”
He doubled down on the line of attack Sunday, questioning his rival’s mental acuity once again.
“Joe Biden became mentally impaired, sad, but lyin’ Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way. There’s something wrong with Kamala and I just don’t know what it is but there is definitely something missing, and you know what, everybody knows it,” he said, as the campaign played video of Harris laughing overhead.
The attacks saw some notable Republicans pushing back, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
“I just think the better course to take is 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 Republican and House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, also a member of JD Vance’s debate preparation team, told ABC News: “I think we should stick on the issues. The issues are, Donald Trump fixed it once. They broke it. He’s going to fix it again. That – those are the issues.”
Trump revealed he was switching from calling his opponent “a Marxist” to a “communist,” because “unfortunately nobody knows what that is.” He repeated calls for her impeachment and prosecution.
In addition, the former president repeated his baseless attacks against Harris over her summer McDonald’s job decades ago, claiming she “never worked there” and it was a “total lie.”
Similar repeated attacks were thrown at ABC News’ “pretty boy” David Muir over his presidential debate fact-checking.
“I still won, by a lot,” Trump claimed.
