President Donald Trump is claiming that rising Democratic star Kamala Harris got "too much credit" for her much-praised takedown of Joe Biden at the Democratic debate.
Perhaps signaling uneasiness with taking on Harris, Trump uncharacteristically said "you never know" if she would be a tough opponent for him and went another day without coining a pejorative nickname.
"I think she was given too much credit for what she did. It wasn't that outstanding," Trump said at a news conference in Osaka, Japan, where he was attending the G20 summit. "I think probably he was hit harder than he should have been hit."
Shelving his usual bluster for the day, Trump said Harris obviously prepared the attack on Biden over his racially charged stand on court-ordered busing to desegregate schools.
"It was right out of the can. It was right out of the box," he remarked.
Harris has jolted the Democratic field with her dominant performance in Thursday's debate. Prediction markets now put her even or above Biden, who struggled to respond to her evocative attack.
Trump sought to keep his focus where it's been for months: on attacking front-runner Biden.
"He didn't respond great," Trump said, echoing analysts from across the political spectrum. "This is not Winston Churchill we're dealing with, but it wasn't nearly as bad as they portend it to be."
Trump normally seeks to attack any rising foe with a nasty nickname. But he still has not come up with a put-down for Harris.
Most surprisingly of all, Trump also skipped his usual boasting about being able to easily beat her in 2020.
"You never know who's going to be tough," he said. "You never know."
