We all have days when we just can’t get motivated. But we’re not running for president and losing ground in the polls, and our personal freedom or imprisonment depends on winning the election.
But those close to Donald Trump – and those who noticed the signs earlier – say the former president and Republican presidential nominee is just a formality while Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris pushes his campaign forward.
A report in the Washington Post says Trump is as good as defeated.
“Trump has arguably more at stake in this election than ever before. His criminal charges are still pending even if he loses. And yet he seems to be making phone calls and running a remarkably low-energy and undisciplined campaign,” said Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House spokeswoman who resigned after Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “Given that he spent days playing golf and coming up with frankly weak nicknames like ‘Kamabala,’ it feels like he’s lost his mojo.”
Trump’s campaign “geniuses,” as he called them, have given him a kick in the butt to get him back on the campaign trail, even though he had planned to spend August playing golf. A rally in Glendale, Arizona, drew 20,000 people on Friday, but Trump is resisting advisers who demand that he talk about policy – which he says bores his audience.
More from the article:
Trump has publicly acknowledged that he struggles to define Harris, and described his goal as portraying her as a “communist.” His frustration with his advisers erupted publicly on Wednesday, when he mocked them for telling him to focus on policy rather than personal insults. He then polled the crowd on which they preferred, and when they predictably cheered louder for personal attacks, Trump joked, “My advisers are fired.”
Trump – after being vilified during the four-day Democratic convention – welcomed the endorsement of Robert Kennedy Jr., who suspended his independent campaign. And there are rumors that he will soon enjoy a wet kiss from former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. Neither nomination is likely to affect polls, which are now slightly in Harris’ favor.
Trump’s supporters are trying to stop this dynamic, but they appear to be failing – hampered by Trump’s recent meltdown during the Democratic National Convention and his ridiculous claims that his policies would be good for women and IVF. Trump manipulated the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and supported Republican plans to ban IVF.
Even Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s biggest supporters, could not explain these claims: “You would have to ask (Trump),” Graham said on CNN on Sunday.
As the Washington Post reports, “Trump’s allies have offered little defense of his character. There has been no swift response to criticism from Democrats that he incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, paid hush money to a porn actress or was found guilty of sexual assault.”
Instead, they criticized Harris and vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for failing to address Republican policy priorities and created a website that portrayed Harris’s political record in a negative light.
Meanwhile, Harris’ campaign announced on Sunday that it had raised $540 million since she entered the race.
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