Trump’s answer to campaign struggles is more Trump
Former President Trump appears to have settled on a solution to counter Vice President Harris’s surge in the polls: more Trump.
Trump will hold a press conference Thursday at his Bedminster, N.J., property, three days after he called in for a two-hour conversation with Tesla founder Elon Musk on the social platform X. Last week, Trump held a press conference in Florida and phoned into “Fox & Friends” to respond to news of the day. He is holding rallies this week in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
The former president’s omnipresence makes him the sole driver of his campaign’s message at a time when his allies have pleaded with him to be more disciplined and hone his attacks on Harris.
It’s a familiar strategy for Trump, who in 2016 declared at the GOP convention “I alone can fix it” and in 2020 put himself on camera almost daily as the coronavirus pandemic surged, positioning himself as his own best messenger over the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci or then-Vice President Mike Pence.
“They’re going to frame it as a juxtaposition with Vice President Harris, because she hasn’t been as available to the media,” former Trump press aide Sarah Matthews said in an interview. “While that is true … I also think that Trump is out there trying to get headlines, because this seems to be the first race where he seems to be kind of competing for media attention.
“He thinks he’s his own best messenger,” added Matthews, who has become a Trump critic. “Which can be true at times, but it can come back to bite him in the a?? a bit. He’s not capable of staying on message.”
Trump has been searching for a way to recapture the news cycle and put a dent in Harris’s momentum, as she has erased the former president’s polling lead against President Biden in a matter of weeks.
Polling published Wednesday from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report showed Harris narrowly leading Trump in five out of seven battleground states likely to decide November’s election: Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Trump led Harris in Nevada, while the candidates were tied in Georgia.
Since Harris replaced Biden atop the ticket, Trump has attended the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, sat down with Fox hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo, called into “Fox & Friends” twice, participated in a teleconference hosted by his campaign, spoken with online personality Adin Ross, held a two-hour conversation with Musk on X and held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Fla., property.
But the former president has frequently struggled to find a clear, consistent message that doesn’t include personal attacks on the vice president.
He has blasted her as a flip-flopper, citing her liberal proposals during her 2020 presidential bid. He has tied her to the Biden administration’s issues taming inflation and curbing border crossings. And he has painted her as a San Francisco liberal, citing her time there as district attorney.
But he has also questioned her biracial heritage, mocked her laugh, repeatedly insulted her intelligence and pushed a false claim that footage of the massive crowds she has drawn at campaign events were somehow generated by artificial intelligence. During his conversation with Musk, he praised the Tesla founder for firing striking employees.
When Trump announced he would be hosting a press conference Thursday, some Harris campaign aides celebrated, viewing his unscripted events as prime fodder for attack lines of their own.
The strategy of flooding the zone is standard procedure for Trump, who has proven uniquely capable of taking over a news cycle.
“He’s always been the best messenger. The difference here is the obstacles that are in front of him,” said Ford O’Connell, a GOP strategist, pointing to a friendly media environment for Harris and a condensed calendar for Trump to define his opponent.
Some of Trump’s closest allies have taken to the airwaves to publicly urge the former president to recalibrate his message in the face of a new political landscape against a younger opponent who has rejuvenated Democratic voters.
Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House trade adviser, said this week the former president’s current formula of holding rallies “is simply not sufficiently focused on the very stark policy differences — policy differences — between him and Kamala Harris that will swing voters in key battleground states.”
Kellyanne Conway, who led Trump’s successful 2016 campaign and served as a top White House adviser, said on Fox Business Network that Trump’s path to victory was “fewer insults, more insights and that policy contrast.”
Chris LaCivita, who has effectively served as Trump’s co-campaign manager alongside Susie Wiles, said in a Wednesday interview with Fox News Radio that he agreed with part of Navarro’s assessment, telling Brian Kilmeade the campaign’s “No. 1 goal” was to highlight policy differences with Harris.
LaCivita also signaled Trump would remain a near-constant presence between now and Election Day.
“We’re not going to give them one inch. We’re not going to give them one second of free time,” LaCivita said.
“We’re going to take advantage of every opportunity that we can create to ensure the American people know the differences and the vital differences between, you know, Donald Trump’s campaign and President Trump and Kamala Harris and the leftist Democrats, because the fate of the country, we truly believe hangs in the balance,” he said.
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