Trump heads to North Carolina as allies push for messaging shift

By Gram Slattery

(Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump will head to the swing state of North Carolina on Wednesday, struggling to turn the page on a difficult stretch of a White House campaign in which his lead in opinion polls has all but evaporated.

Trump, who will deliver remarks at 4 p.m. (2000 GMT) in Asheville, has frustrated some allies, donors and advisers by attacking his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, in deeply personal terms, rather than focusing on what they argue are the failed policies she has promoted while in office.

Some Trump allies have been surprised by Harris' massive fundraising figures since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month, paving the way for her bid. Others have privately expressed frustration at the Trump campaign's inability to settle on a consistent line of attack that they say would likely appeal to a broad range of voters.

The former president's broadsides related to Harris' racial identity have in particular provoked concerns. Trump has frequently implied that Harris, whose mother was born in India and whose father was born in Jamaica, has only recently leaned into her Black identity.

"Personally it makes no difference to me what Kamala wants to identify as," said Bill Bean, a major Republican donor who hosted Trump's vice presidential pick, JD Vance, at an Indiana fundraiser in late July.

Bean said he had talked with Vance and Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley about the need to attack Harris on her policy record, not her identity.

Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not address those criticisms directly, but argued Trump would beat Harris due to the vice president's record in office.

"Kamala is weak, dishonest, and dangerously liberal, and that's why the American people will reject her on November 5th," she said in a statement.

National polling averages show Harris has opened a modest lead against Trump, while polls in the swing states likely to decide the Nov. 5 election consistently show a tight race.

At the Asheville event, Trump will "deliver remarks on the economic hardships created by the Harris-Biden Administration," according to his campaign.

His appearance follows an at-times rambling interview on X with billionaire Elon Musk on Monday night, which was marred by technical difficulties.

Last week, Trump convened a meandering press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and over the weekend he falsely accused the Harris campaign of using artificial intelligence to make her crowds at a rally in Michigan appear larger than they were.

Harris will also travel to North Carolina, where she will talk about economic policy in a speech in Raleigh on Friday. She will outline a plan "to lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging," a campaign official said.

Trump maintains a slim lead in North Carolina, according to an average maintained by website Real Clear Politics, though Harris is within striking distance. That represents a marked difference from a month ago, when Biden was the candidate and Republicans appeared to be running away with the state and were turning their attention to traditionally Democratic states like Virginia and Minnesota.

On Saturday, Trump will head to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, another battleground state where Democrats appear to have made significant gains in recent weeks.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Howard Goller)