Former President Trump’s campaign is doing something it’s not necessarily known for after last week’s debate: remaining silent.
Often an arrogant and loudmouth candidate, Trump has taken a more measured approach amid the wave of confusion and chaos surrounding President Biden’s political future.
“When someone is trying to destroy themselves, you don’t get in the way. There’s no reason to intrude on that conversation,” former Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, who served as House Republican campaign chairman, said of Trump’s low-key demeanor. “There’s wise discipline on this issue, and Trump has done a good job of that.”
“Nobody in the Democratic Party cares what Trump thinks about Biden being the nominee, so why even talk about it,” he continued. “There wasn’t a lot of discipline in 2020, so I’m glad he learned from that. I think it speaks volumes that he’s learned from the past.”
Republicans say the post-debate lull is indicative of a longer-term trend: Trump and his team are running a cleaner, more moderate and more disciplined campaign than previous ones. And it starts with the two Trump campaign leaders who have received the most praise for running the campaign, Suzi Wiles and Chris LaCivita.
Lawmakers and party leaders also say they have noticed the former president has become more disciplined and restrained in recent months, with some pointing to his uneventful visit to Capitol Hill last month, where he met with senators, as a prime example.
That included extending what Trump ally Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) described as “conciliatory offers” to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others who have criticized Trump in the past.
“He’s become increasingly disciplined in public,” said Mullin, who met with Trump privately during the campaign. “You’re seeing a whole different approach and leadership style now.”
“How hard can he be on Joe Biden? Because people are starting to feel sorry for him. If he comes at him too hard, it’s like he’s acting like a bully, and he’s been accused of that before. So he needs to tone it down, because there’s no question that there’s something completely wrong with Biden’s mind.”
Mullin pointed to other examples of Trump showing restraint this year, including his decision to hold off on killing a national security supplemental budget that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) helped pass through Congress, and his recent endorsement of former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s bid for U.S. Senate in strongly Democratic Maryland.
As Democrats ponder their future as a party with or without Biden, Republicans are urging each other and former President Biden to try to win the November election.
“The question is whether Biden remains their nominee through November, and that’s entirely a Democratic decision,” said David Polyansky, a Republican political activist who served as deputy campaign manager for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign. “We need to stay out of that. It’s not our fight, it’s not our issue.”
Trump’s own donors have noticed his newfound discipline and are hoping it will stick.
“The campaign desperately wants him to keep quiet,” said Trump donor Dan Eberhart, who noted that Trump is “more disciplined than he’s been in the past.”
Trump is also in the midst of perhaps the luckiest period he has experienced throughout his campaign. Adding to the controversy, the Supreme Court on Monday handed Trump a victory in presidential immunity, leading to a delay in the New York City hush money case.
The first polls since the debate also bode well for the former president. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Wednesday showed Trump widening his lead over Biden to eight points. Trump’s supporters were also quick to point to a Saint Anselm College poll showing Trump trailing Biden in the Democratic-leaning state of New Hampshire after the debate.
“If President Trump remains essentially calm and quiet, it will be a referendum on Joe Biden’s competence and all criticism of him and his style will evaporate,” said Chris Ager, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. “Let’s focus on whether we want four more years of Joe Biden.”
The only regret some allies have is that the debate is being held now rather than in the fall.
“He probably had the best debate of his life, too good to be honest,” Mullin said. “If he had held the debate after the Democratic National Convention, the debate about replacing him would never have happened.”
