Trump outpaces Harris in rallies and interviews, but media still tries to suggest he’s ‘exhausted’

Former President Donald Trump is beating back rumors and reports of exhaustion in the final stretch of his reelection campaign with a rigorous schedule of in-person rallies and interviews that has far outpaced his much younger Democratic opponent.

Politico ran a headline on Friday reading “An ‘exhausted’ Trump says no to another interview”. The article pointed to Trump’s backing out of an interview with The Shade Room and cited anonymous “people familiar with the conversations” in reporting that a “Trump advisor” had said Trump was “exhausted” and “refusing [some] interviews.”

The story further pointed to Trump’s cancellation of  other interviews this week, including with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” which the campaign attributed to a scheduling conflict. A Trump campaign official confirmed to Just the News that it never set or discussed a date to appear on The Shade Room and that it also had a scheduling conflict that precluded a separate NBC appearance.

Three times as many interviews

Concerns over age and ability to handle the rigors of office proved fatal to the political career of President Joe Biden, 81, whose performance in a debate against Trump this year reignited scrutiny over his age and mental competence and ultimately pushed him to step aside.

At 78, Trump has also faced some questions over his age and mental acuity, albeit not to a comparable extent. Last month, Axios ran an article highlighting that Trump had held fewer rallies per month compared to his 2016 cycle. One of the contributing factors, the outlet asserted, was that “he’s older.”

The Trump campaign adamantly denies such claims. “This is unequivocally false,” Trump Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Just the News of the Politico article. “President Trump has been running laps around Kamala Harris on the campaign trail and has sat down for nearly three times as many interviews as she has, including a contentious interview with Bloomberg this past week which Kamala declined. President Trump has more energy, and a harder work ethic, than anyone in politics.” 

Indeed, there is plenty in Trump’s active campaign schedule to contrast with that of Vice President Harris, 59.

Rally frequency

Since becoming the Republican Party nominee in mid-July, Trump has held at least 41 conventional rallies -- one in which he narrowly missed being felled by an assassin's bullet -- across every battleground state, including multiple weeks in which he has headlined two or more events. That figure includes joint appearances such as his rallies with Turning Point, but does not include media hits. 

Harris, by contrast, became the Democratic nominee in early August and has since held at least 14 conventional rallies. Trump held five rallies between his confirmation as the GOP candidate and Harris’s ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket.

To compare the same period, Trump has held at least 36 rallies to Harris’s 16 since she became the Democratic nominee. Both figures include weekend appearances by either candidate. Trump held rallies in Detroit, Mich.; and Latrobe and Lancaster, Pa.; while Harris appeared in Detroit, Mich.; and Atlanta, Ga.

83 interviews as opposed to 44

Apart from standard rallies, both campaigns have of course made numerous appearances on legacy media, as well as podcasts, video platforms, and in other media. A Wall Street Journal breakdown of their respective appearances, moreover, showed Trump again outpacing Harris in virtually all mediums.

As of July 15, Trump has made 28 appearances on what the outlet deemed “Legacy TV” compared to Harris’s 12 since Aug. 6. In those intervals, Trump made 10 radio appearances to Harris’s seven. Trump further made 10 print appearances to her two, seven podcast hits to her two, and appeared in an X space. Both made three video appearances.

A running tally of interviews from Fox News, moreover, tracks the combined interviews for both the major candidates and their running mates. Since the formation of the Harris-Walz ticket in August, the outlet states, Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., have sat for a combined minimum of 44 non-scripted interviews. Trump and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, meanwhile, have conducted at least 83.

Press conferences: Harris not held one yet

Trump has held at least six press conferences since early August in which he fielded media questions, while Harris has not held a single formal news conference in her capacity as a candidate, according to Fox News.

Though she has delivered remarks in an official capacity as the vice president, offering updates on hurricane relief efforts and other issues, she has kept questions limited in those instances.

Despite her recent “media blitz” in which she appeared on a string of friendly podcasts and programs, some media insiders don’t expect Harris to include a formal press conference before the end of the election cycle.

Speaking to Fox News, conservative Radio Libre host Jorge Bonilla said Harris was “highly unlikely” to hold such an event “because the media have enabled and encouraged her ‘plexiglass basement’ strategy.”

Just the News has sought comment from the Harris campaign, who did not respond by presstime.