CHICAGO — The Donald Trump campaign kicked off its presence at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with a press conference from two prominent Republican senators ripping the soon-to-be-official Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on everything from minimal media presence to a lack of business expertise.
Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) spoke to members of the media at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago on Monday morning alongside Brian Hughes, senior communication adviser to the Trump campaign. They focused on what they said were “Harris’ disastrous economic policies that have led to sky-high inflation that is crushing American families,” according to a campaign press release.
Scott said he and Johnson stand out from Harris and her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, by being “two business guys that build companies.” Scott founded for-profit hospital chain, Columbia Hospital Corporation, and Johnson owned plastics manufacturer Pacur.
“Donald Trump is a business guy who understands how businesses work. Harris has no earthly idea how businesses work,” Scott said. “The vice president pick has no idea how businesses work. They've not built businesses. They've not had to deal with a profit loss statement. They've not dealt with the cost of commodities, like energy. They've done none of these things.”
ALSO READ: ‘Absolutely essential’: Son of Oath Keeper Stewart Rhodes is all in for Kamala Harris
Before becoming vice president, Harris was a U.S. senator from California, attorney general of California and district attorney of San Francisco. Walz served as a U.S. congressman from Minnesota before becoming governor and was a high school teacher and football coach previously. He also served in the National Guard.
Trump’s business empire came under the scrutiny of the New York Attorney General this year, resulting in the Trump Organization being found liable for business fraud. Trump was ordered to pay more than $450 million in damages and has since reported hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
Scott went on to accuse Harris of “socialism” related to her proposal to ban price gouging by food suppliers.
Surrounded by poster boards showing “price increases since Kamala Harris took office,” Johnson said Harris and Walz will “make our lives worse and more difficult to live because they think they're so smart. They think they can actually set prices and not have that blow up in their faces be a total disaster."
“I'm gonna pick the business guy that understands that you've gotta get the economy going again, that you gotta get energy prices down,” Scott said. “You can't have higher regular regulatory environment, higher taxes, higher fees, higher permitting, higher everything, and think prices are going to come down. It's pretty simple.”
Hughes, the Trump adviser, said Trump and Vance will be speaking in battleground states throughout the Democratic National Convention, which he called a “stark contrast” to the Harris-Walz campaign.
“We're not hearing a lot from Kamala Harris about these policies that she's talking about,” Hughes said.
Scott simply posed the question, “Where is she?”
UPDATE: Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, replied to Raw Story's questions about the choice of Scott and Johnson as speakers with an emailed statement: "Today, Senator Rick Scott and Senator Ron Johnson held more press conferences than Comrade Kamala Harris has held during her entire 29 days as the Democrat nominee for President. Will the media force Kamala Harris to do a press conference to address the concerns of the American people who can't afford gasoline or groceries?"
When asked about a gap between the Trump and Harris campaigns’ appeal to women, Johnson said the Republicans wanted to focus on “really, what women want.”
“They want somebody who will provide security so they feel safer. Does an open border provide security, when we see all these migrant crimes, these rapes, these murders?” Johnson said. “Women want a strong economy so they can take care of their families. These are things that President Trump delivered.”
Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to questions from Raw Story.
Mike Lindell — MyPillow guy, Donald Trump adviser and conspiracy theorist — was present at the press conference before it began.
This story was updated with a statement from the Trump campaign.
