Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted he is “entitled” to launch personal attacks on his Democratic rival for the White House, saying he was “angry with her” and, besides, she had also attacked him personally, calling him “weird”.

Trump has questioned Harris’s ethnicity, mispronounced her name, called her “crazy”, mocked her laughter and doubted her intelligence at election rallies, press conferences and social media postings as he has struggled to define her on his terms and regain control of the race.

He is trailing Harris in polls after leading President Joe Biden from the time the contest got underway to the latter dropping out and endorsing Harris.

Trump allies and advisers have urged him to focus on policy differences with Harris and issues like the economy and illegal immigration, where he has an advantage and not squander his equity on personal attacks that do not sit well with voters.

“I’m very angry at her that she’d weaponised the justice system against me and other people,” Trump said at a news conference at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey. He did not specify, but he might have been referring to the criminal charges brought against him by the Justice Department of the Biden-Harris administration, although there is no evidence that either Harris or President Joe Biden directed these prosecutions.

“I think I’m entitled to personal attacks. I don’t have a lot of respect for her. I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she’ll be a terrible President, and I think it’s very important that we win.”

He added: “Whether the personal attacks are good, bad, I mean, she certainly attacks me personally. She actually called me weird. ‘He’s weird’.”

Harris has indeed used the word “weird” for Trump and his actions and his running mate Senator JD Vance, using a coinage first deployed by her running mate Tim Walz, the Governor of Minnesota, while he was auditioning for the position.

The Harris campaign has used that word often since to needle Trump. Both Trump and Vance have bristled at being described as “weird” and sought to hit back using the same word for Harris and Walz.

They managed to trigger the former President and his natural proclivity to deploy personal attacks and insults against his political rivals, including fellow Republicans. In this instance, the Harris campaign may have drawn him away from substantive issues of inflation and immigration, where the Vice-President is weak, and wasted his time on personal attacks disregarding the advice of his own allies and advisers.

“When Trump attacks Harris personally rather than on policy, Harris’s support among swing voters rises, particularly among women,” Peter Navarro, a former Trump adviser, told a US news publication.

Former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, who had a long meeting with the former President recently, has said, “The winning formula for President Trump is very plain to see: It’s fewer insults, more insights and (a) policy contrast.”

And here is why Trump is defying his advisers. “All we have to do is define our opponent as a communist; a socialist; someone who wants to destroy our country.” That’s his goal.