Trump's rhetorical rampage casts shadow over campaign's final weeks

Former President Trump's extreme rhetoric is making life uncomfortable for Republicans in the final weeks of the campaign, prompting some surrogates to revive the 2016 disclaimer: "Take him seriously, not literally."

Why it matters: With more voters finally tuning into the presidential race, Vice President Harris is determined to make Trump own his words — and not allow allies to sanitize his most incendiary and violent language.

Zoom out: Take the last month alone. Rather than temper his tone as the general election approaches, Trump's public rhetoric has grown more erratic, hyperbolic and nativist than ever.

In interviews, speeches and social media posts, the former president has:

• Called domestic critics such as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) "the enemy from within" and argued they're more dangerous than any foreign adversary.
• Floated using the National Guard or military to handle "radical left lunatics" who he says could cause chaos on Election Day.
• Suggested that police be allowed "one really violent day" to crack down on retail crime.
• Claimed America is an "occupied country" that must be "liberated" from criminal migrants who have "bad genes" and have "raped our country."
• Described violent scenes of migrant "animals" who will "walk into your kitchen" and "cut your throat."
• Called Democrats "evil" and "professional thieves" intent on stealing elections and destroying America.
• Said that if he loses the election, Jewish voters would have "a lot to do with" the result.
• Called Harris "mentally disabled" and "mentally impaired," claiming she "was born that way." He also called Harris "retarded" at a private dinner for donors, according to The New York Times.
• Bragged about his crowd size on Jan. 6, downplayed the Capitol riot and preemptively spread baseless claims of fraud about the 2024 election.

Zoom in: At a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, Harris took the rare step of playing a video montage of Trump's stretch of threatening language as she urged Americans to "listen to his words."

• "He considers anyone who doesn't support him, or who will not bend to his will, an enemy of our country," the vice president said.
• "Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged. And he is out for unchecked power."

The big picture: Earlier in the campaign, some Republicans privately and publicly urged Trump to tone down the personal attacks and focus on making a policy case against Harris. That hasn't really happened.

• Instead, Trump's GOP allies have largely been forced into the uncomfortable position of defending and downplaying the ex-president's extreme rhetoric.
• In a remarkable exchange on CNN Monday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) accused host Jake Tapper of "misrepresenting" Trump's comments about deploying the military against Democrats — to which a baffled Tapper responded: "I'm literally reading his quotes."

Between the lines: Many mainstream Republicans — especially in the business community — have justified their support for Trump by suggesting his talk of vengeance and violence is simply campaign bluster.

• "I think people have very thick shock absorbers when it comes to Donald Trump," Trump ally Kellyanne Conway told the New York Times. "People have a very good sense of sussing out rhetoric from reality."
• That extends even to Trump's central campaign promises such as massive tariffs on all U.S. imports, which Wall Street Republicans desperately hope is just a negotiating position.
• "My general view is that at the end of the day, he's a free trader," Trump economic adviser Scott Bessent, a potential candidate for treasury secretary, told the Financial Times.

What they're saying: "Axios should get in touch with the American people and spend less time writing about President Trump's rhetoric, and more time writing about Kamala Harris' actions, which have left our nation in a state of peril," Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in response to a request for comment.

The bottom line: Harris' recent strategy of campaigning on Trump's extreme rhetoric has its limitations.

• In the latest New York Times/Siena College poll, 41% of likely voters agreed that "people who are offended by Donald Trump take his words too seriously."
• In other words, millions of Americans have a fixed perception of who the ex-president is — and even his own words will do little to change that.