STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We compare speeches the candidates gave on the same day.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Hey, Nevada.
INSKEEP: On Saturday, Vice President Harris finished a tour introducing her running mate.
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HARRIS: Can we hear it for Tim Walz?
INSKEEP: And former President Trump campaigned for a Senate candidate in Montana.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOD BLESS THE U.S.A."
LEE GREENWOOD: (Singing) ...USA.
DONALD TRUMP: Thank you.
INSKEEP: The appearances show a contrast in substance and style. Both began with small talk, Harris about the Olympics.
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HARRIS: Our women's national soccer team won the gold, as well.
(CHEERING)
INSKEEP: Trump about the length of his drive in from the airport.
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TRUMP: I'll tell you, I know Montana better than you know - I was all over your state today. Everything's two hours. When are we going to be there? Two hours, sir. Two hours.
INSKEEP: Soon, Trump spoke of his opponent.
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TRUMP: We're going to evict Crazy Kamala. Do you know - ever hear of Kamala? Radical left. Radical left.
INSKEEP: He repeatedly wandered off target and then returned to the vice president.
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TRUMP: Since becoming a presidential candidate, she has refused to do a single interview. You know why? 'Cause she's dumb.
INSKEEP: So said Trump in Montana, the same day that Harris spoke in Nevada.
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HARRIS: As a prosecutor, I specialized in cases of sexual abuse. Well, Donald Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse.
(BOOING)
HARRIS: As attorney general, I held Wall Street banks accountable for fraud. Well...
(LAUGHTER)
INSKEEP: She hardly needed to finish the thought. Harris offered broad themes - democracy, freedom and a focus on the future.
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HARRIS: And it is my promise to everyone here when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America...
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HARRIS: ...Including to raise the minimum wage...
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HARRIS: ...And eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.
INSKEEP: Harris endorsed that last idea after Trump did, although she agrees with him on little else.
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HARRIS: What kind of country do we want to live in? A country of chaos, fear and hate...
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: No.
HARRIS: ...Or a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law?
(CHEERING)
INSKEEP: Trump touched on his big themes, alleging without evidence that his opponents would turn America, quote, "communist" and making his own promises about Social Security.
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TRUMP: And seniors, as I said, will not pay taxes on their Social Security. That's a big deal.
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TRUMP: On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content onto the lives of our children. We're not going to do it.
INSKEEP: And where Harris spoke about 28 minutes, Trump spoke for an hour and 40, often talking of a president who's no longer running.
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TRUMP: What do you like better, Crooked Joe...
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TRUMP: ...Or Sleepy Joe?
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TRUMP: OK. Crooked seems to always win. I mean, he's a crooked guy.
INSKEEP: Trump even seemed to regret the debate that knocked out Biden.
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TRUMP: Why the hell did I debate him?
INSKEEP: And he indulged in a fantasy about the return of the opponent Trump used to be leading in the polls.
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TRUMP: I hear he's going to make a comeback at the Democrat convention. He's going to walk into the room, and he's going to say, I want my presidency back.
INSKEEP: The former president has repeated that one on social media.
NPR's Mara Liasson has been listening along with us to these elements from the speeches on Saturday. She's also following the campaign's other messages. Mara, good morning.
MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: What themes do you hear?
LIASSON: Well, Harris seems to have figured out her own way of talking about Trump being a threat to democracy. That's kind of an abstract concept to most voters, so she has chosen freedom as her mantra. Freedom from having the government come between you and your doctor, freedom from your kids - for your kids to read the books you want them to, freedom from gun violence. Most elections are referendums on the incumbent president, and what she's trying to do is make this race a referendum on Trump, not on the Biden-Harris administration. And she's doing that by saying that she is the candidate of the future, not the past. Trump is the past. And that's what Harris' supporters mean when they're chanting, we're not going back.
INSKEEP: Well, how is Trump managing that?
LIASSON: Trump is a big contrast to Harris. Instead of the laughing, smiling Harris-Walz ticket always talking about how they're bringing the joy, at Trump rallies, you see his scowling mugshot on all that campaign merch. He has a very downbeat message. He tells his crowds that America is in decline; crime is rampant; immigration is out of control; prices are too high. And then there are all those personal insults you heard that Trump delivers to Harris. She's low IQ. She's incompetent. She's not really Black.
And, you know, since Trump got a new opponent, he has really struggled to settle on a consistent, coherent message against Harris. And a lot of Republicans are saying that in this, his third campaign for president, he is much less disciplined than they expected. Some Republican outlets are openly voicing their concerns. The Wall Street Journal editorial page had a headline, "Will Trump Blow Another Election?" And it's almost a role reversal. Not long ago, it was Democrats wringing their hands, criticizing Biden's performance. Now Republicans are suffering from whiplash. Remember, at that Milwaukee convention, they weren't just confident. They were talking about a landslide.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
LIASSON: Now the race is neck and neck. But the Trump campaign insists that Harris' honeymoon is going to end. Her new numbers will drop. And this reminds me of the Biden campaign, who, for a very long time, kept on predicting that Trump's numbers would drop once voters realized that he was actually the nominee. So when a campaign starts predicting that their opponent's poll numbers are going to drop sometime in the near future, you know that that's a lot of wishful thinking.
INSKEEP: OK. Although there are some advantages, I would think, that the former president still has. What are they?
LIASSON: Absolutely. He has a lot of advantages. He has the Electoral College map, which helps Republicans. He has the edge on many issues. Polls show that voters see him as the stronger leader. They see him as better on the economy, on crime, on the border. And those internal poll numbers might change, but so far, he's maintaining them. He also has a flood of negative ads aimed at Harris ready to go. And one Trump-supporting super PAC is about to air $100 million of ads in battleground states between now and Labor Day. And that's a lot of ads.
INSKEEP: A hundred million dollars. I think we can both recall when presidential campaigns - like, the whole campaign might not be $100 million. And this is...
LIASSON: That's right.
INSKEEP: ...One wave of ads. Amazing. Mara, thanks so much. Always appreciate your insights.
LIASSON: You're welcome.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's Mara Liasson. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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