Focus on economy and answer the Harris 'Freedom' message: What GOP strategists think Trump should do

Follow AP’s live coverage of the 2024 presidential race. One Republican strategist who has run campaigns against Donald Trump says he recognizes what the former president is doing against Vice President Kamala Harris, even as Trump swings back and forth between attacking her record and questioning her racial identity. It’s what he’s done against other opponents. “He figures out what their perceived weakness is and drills down on it,” said Terry Sullivan, who was a senior adviser to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 Republican presidential campaign. “He’s spending a few weeks probing, and I think he needs to take that time.”Harris’ entry into the presidential race after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid has changed basic assumptions about the campaign, as Democrats replaced an 81-year-old man with a fading ability to make his case with a 59-year-old woman who’s drawing new enthusiasm. Trump’s attacks on Harris’ racial identity — an echo of his onetime questioning of former Pres...