Former President Trump appears to have decided on “more Trump” as a solution to counter Vice President Harris’s soaring approval ratings.
President Trump will hold a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey, home on Thursday, three days after a two-hour phone conversation with Tesla founder Elon Musk on social media platform X. Trump held a press conference in Florida last week and reacted to the day’s news by phone to “Fox & Friends.” Trump is holding rallies in North Carolina and Pennsylvania this week.
The former president’s presence has made him a sole driver of the campaign’s message as allies plead with Harris to be more disciplined and hone their attacks on her.
It’s a familiar strategy for Trump, who declared at the 2016 Republican Convention that “only I can fix this” and then appeared in front of the cameras almost daily as the coronavirus pandemic surged in 2020, positioning himself as its best communicator over figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci and then-Vice President Mike Pence.
“They’re going to see this as a contrast to VP Harris because she doesn’t deal with the media as much,” former Trump press secretary Sarah Matthews said in an interview. “That’s true, but I think Trump is trying to grab attention because this seems like the first race where he’s competing for media attention.”
“He thinks he’s the best messenger,” added Matthews, who has become a Trump critic. “That may be true at times, but it may come back to bite him later. He doesn’t have the ability to get the message across.”
Trump has been looking for ways to regain the news cycle and undermine Harris’ momentum after she overturned the former president’s polling lead over Biden in just a few weeks.
A poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report showed Ms Harris narrowly leading Mr Trump in five of the seven battleground states that will determine the outcome of November’s election – Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania – with Mr Trump leading Ms Harris in Nevada and the two candidates neck and neck in Georgia.
Since Harris took Biden’s place at the top of the ticket, Trump has attended the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago, sat down with Fox hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo, appeared twice on “Fox & Friends,” participated in a video conference hosted by his campaign, spoke with online personality Adynne Ross, held a two-hour conversation with Musk on X and held a news conference at Mar-a-Lago.
But the former president has struggled to find a clear, consistent message that doesn’t include personal attacks on the vice president.
He accused Harris of being a swinger, citing the liberal proposals she made when she ran for president in 2020. Trump linked her to Biden administration issues such as curbing inflation and restricting border crossings, and portrayed her as a San Francisco liberal, citing her experience as San Francisco’s district attorney.
But he has also questioned her mixed-race heritage, mocked her laugh, repeatedly insulted her intelligence and pushed the false claim that the huge crowds she drew to her campaigns were somehow generated by artificial intelligence. In a conversation with Musk, he praised the Tesla founder for firing striking workers.
When Trump announced he would hold a press conference on Thursday, some in Harris’ campaign celebrated, seeing Trump’s unexpected event as ammunition for them.
The strategy of flooding an area is standard procedure for Trump, who has demonstrated a unique ability to control the news cycle.
“He’s always been the best communicator. The difference this time is the obstacles in front of him,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell, pointing to a favorable media environment for Harris and a condensed schedule for Trump to present his candidacy.
Some of Trump’s top aides have gone on television to publicly call on the former president to recalibrate his message in the face of a new political climate with a younger opponent who has rejuvenated the Democratic base.
Peter Navarro, a former White House trade adviser to Trump, said this week that the former president’s current rally format “does not adequately focus on the very salient policy differences between him and Kamala Harris that will sway voters in key battleground states.”
Kellyanne Conway, who ran Trump’s successful 2016 campaign and served as a top White House adviser, told Fox Business Network that Trump’s path to victory was “fewer insults, more insight and more policy contrasts.”
Chris LaCivita, who served as Trump’s de facto co-campaign director with Suzie Wiles, said in an interview with Fox News Radio on Wednesday that she agreed with some of Navarro’s assessment, telling Brian Kilmeade that the campaign’s “number one goal” is to highlight policy differences with Harris.
LaCivita also suggested that Trump will be a near-constant presence between now and Election Day.
“We will not give them an inch. We will not give them a second of free time,” LaCivita said.
“We’re going to take advantage of every opportunity to make sure the American people know the difference, the critical difference, between Donald Trump’s campaign and President Trump, Sen. Kamala Harris and the left-wing Democratic Party, because we believe the fate of this country really depends on it,” he said.
