Trump says there's 'something wrong' with Harris and that she's 'mentally impaired'

Republicans on Sunday sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump's latest insults of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during a rambling weekend rally in Wisconsin in which he called her 'mentally disabled.'

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump escalated his personal attacks on his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, on Sunday by repeating an insult that she was “mentally impaired” while also saying she should be “impeached and prosecuted."

Trump's rally Sunday in Erie, Pa. , took on similar themes as an event one day earlier that he described himself as a “dark speech.” He told a cheering crowd that Harris was responsible for an “invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border and "she should be impeached and prosecuted for her actions.”

“Crooked Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” he added. “Sad. But lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way. There’s something wrong with Kamala. And I just don’t know what it is but there is definitely something missing. And you know what, everybody knows it.”

With just over a month until the election, Trump is intensifying his use of personal and offensive attacks, even as some Republicans say he'd be better sticking to the issues.

His suggestions that political enemies be prosecuted are particularly notable for their departure from norms in the U.S. in which the judicial system is supposed to be protected from political influence. In recent weeks, he has threatened prosecutions of Google for allegedly giving priority to “good stories” about Harris, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and anyone he deems to be “involved in unscrupulous behavior” related to the coming election.

His derision of the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to lead a major party ticket as “stupid,” “weak,” “dumb as a rock” and “lazy” is also a sign of how nasty and personal the final stretch of the campaign may be.