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Former President Donald Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris “retarded” as he tried to convince top Republican donors to pour more money into his campaign, The New York Times reported Saturday.

According to the Times, the former president’s insulting comment came during a dinner with donors at his penthouse last month. Among the donors in attendance were Trump’s former education secretary Betsy DeVos and her husband, along with hedge fund manager Paul Singer, investment banker Warren Stephens and billionaire Joe Ricketts.

To the group of wealthy donors, Trump argued that his administration’s tax policies benefited them and that they should be grateful and help his campaign more, the Times said.

Sources told the Times that Trump was frustrated with the fundraising numbers because Harris is raising more money than his campaign.

“If money guaranteed electoral success, Hillary Clinton would have been president,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.

“President Trump is in better financial position than ever before, and he is leading in the polls,” campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt added.

Trump’s exasperation comes in the latter part of the campaign, as the race for the White House remains extremely tight. Researchers at OpenSecret, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in elections, noted in a report this week that at this rate, Trump could struggle to even match what his political operation produced during the 2020 campaign.

Meanwhile, Harris has raised $1 billion since entering the race in late July, CNN reported earlier this week. While other presidential candidates – in addition to their political parties – have crossed the $1 billion mark in recent elections, Harris crossed that threshold at breakneck speed.

Trump has often made disparaging comments about his opponents, including President Joe Biden when he was still in the race. Late last month, Trump publicly insulted Harris’ mental state at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, calling her “mentally retarded.”

As for Harris, during her first presidential campaign in 2019, Harris came under fire for responding “Well said” to a lengthy question from a voter who had called Trump’s actions “mentally retarded.”

At the time, Harris posted an apology from her presidential campaign account on Ever.”

At last month’s dinner, Trump also renewed his recent attacks on Jewish voters who don’t support him, again saying “their heads needed to be examined,” according to the Times.

Trump has used the same phrase several times during his campaign to argue that Jewish voters would bear some blame if he loses in November.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Fredreka Schouten, Alayne Treene and Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.