Although Donald Trump had anticipated running against Kamala Harris, he was unprepared for the possibility of an election reset that would put him in the lead.
With his haphazard jabs at the vice president, the former president is weakening his own message and, for the first time in his political career, finding it difficult to maintain his place at the forefront of public discourse.
The most famous man on the globe was reduced to a relative afterthought at the end of last month, thanks to the historic handoff of the presidential mantle from President Joe Biden to Senator Harris and the public scrutiny of Trump’s own choice for vice president, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
However, things rapidly changed on Wednesday when he appeared in a televised interview in Chicago alongside three female members of the National Association of Black Journalists.
From the beginning, Trump was aggressive. He instantly took issue with the questions posed to him, attacked the group that had invited him, and made racialized and unfounded accusations that Harris, who is both Black and Indian American, had only lately started identifying as Black. The latter comment rapidly took over the radio, and on Thursday, Trump reposted a picture of a child Harris alongside adults wearing traditional Indian attire, reinforcing his statement.
Former Republican Party of Wisconsin executive director Andrew Hitt claimed, “I think he did it on purpose.” “Many of his first-term actions were quite beneficial to the Black community, but the timing of the conversation is crucial.”
He went on, “I don’t think the location they picked was intended to do that.”
According to Trump’s advisors, they were prepared for a “unfriendly audience” and are unaffected by the criticism of his performance there. They also don’t think it will be a burden for them.
Regarding whether or not Trump intended to enter the room and start a fight, a Trump advisor claimed, “He did not necessarily articulate a plan ahead of time.” However, we were aware that the audience was hostile and they ultimately behaved badly. He pushed back, doing what he does best.
It was successful in shifting the focus of the news cycle away from Harris and back to Trump during the thirty-minute exchange. Despite the fact that being the focus of attention might draw harsh criticism, as it did this week, he is renowned for associating this role with power and triumphing over the opposition.
“I believe that people believe that Trump is going back to his old self,” a seasoned Republican communications advisor stated. And even if it doesn’t make sense right now, they think it always works out for him. However, I believe that everyone understands that Kamala was the target of a much more inflammatory anti-identity political message and attitude.
Put differently, he might find that his previous employment of race-based attacks backfires when he faces a Black opponent. However, many Republicans are publicly pleading with him to concentrate on Harris’ record, which includes notable reversals in important policy areas including energy policy, gun control, health care, and border security. This is because Harris is exhibiting that instinct once more.
Sen. Tom Tillis, R-N.C., stated, “I believe it detracts from the topic I want to concentrate on, but it’s possible that our views on what will influence voters differ.” “In my opinion, it stems from the shortcomings in the national security, border, and economy.”
After a number of historic upsets, NBC News spoke with almost two dozen Republican and Democratic insiders about their perspectives on the election and how they see the final stretch unfolding with less than 100 days until Election Day. All of them agree that the election is getting closer, that Trump is the front-runner and is under pressure, and that Harris is the underdog and still needs to win over the voters.
The reason Trump is struggling to settle in could be that during the period of around five weeks in June and July, the ground shifted beneath him. When Biden faltered miserably in a June 27 debate, to the point where Democrats started clamoring for a new candidate, he already believed he was in a strong position to regain the presidency.
The Democratic Party was in disarray for more than two weeks. Then, in mid-July, Trump escaped an attempted assassination attempt during a rally in western Pennsylvania. He announced Vance as his running partner two days later at the start of a Republican National Committee romance. Everything was centered around Trump, including surveys conducted both privately and publicly, which gave Democratic insiders the impression that Biden had no chance of winning.
After declaring his intention to withdraw from the reelection race on July 21, Biden threw his support behind Harris, paving the way for her to emerge as the Democratic nominee. Democrats have since noticed a surge in polls that indicates the race is getting closer to where it was before to the Biden-Trump debate.
In all seven of the most fiercely contested battleground states, Harris has slightly outperformed Biden, according to a poll analysis published by the Washington Post on Thursday. However, Trump is still leading in five of the states and tied in another. According to the Post study, Harris is ahead in just one state: Wisconsin, where her lead is within the error margin at one point.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, stated, “All we have to do is work tirelessly until election day. Vice President Harris is leading the charge.” “You are always the underdog when you are a female Asian American and African American activist aiming to change history.”
Politicians adore the term “underdog,” and Harris claims to be one, and many Democratic strategists agree.
Veteran Democratic operator Chris Kofinis stated, “This is the crazy voter election, and we are in the irrational exuberance stage.” Is it near? Yes, but with Biden as the nominee, it was quite close. The issue is that, in actuality, this is some time between 2016 and 2020.
In an election where the outcome of the Electoral College could have been changed by less than 80,000 votes across three states, Trump narrowly defeated Hillary Clinton, the nominee of the Democratic Party, in 2016. Less than 50,000 votes spread over three states separated Trump’s loss to Biden four years later.
Trump’s supporters express confidence in him, especially if he can maintain his attention on Harris’ track record and agenda.
“It’s evident that the president appears to be very happy and in a great position politically,” stated Ed McMullen, a Trump associate who held the job of U.S. ambassador to Switzerland while Trump was president. “His remarks and rallies demonstrate his excitement and enjoyment of challenging Kamala and the wealth of opposition research provided by the Biden-Harris record.”
Trump’s inner circle of advisors recognizes the value of him concentrating on Harris’s record, but they also know that Trump has built a career out of going after his gut feelings, so they aren’t too concerned if he keeps bringing up issues like Harris’ race.
According to the Trump advisor, “The most crucial thing to do is to make a contract policy difference, which he has already done and will continue to do.” But for a very long time, people have questioned DJT’s offensive strategies, and he frequently proves them to be correct. The jury is still out, in my opinion, on whether such kinds of attacks are ineffective.