Donald Trump’s presidential campaign will focus on the border and the economy, the two issues on which he believes Kamala Harris is weakest, sources familiar with the matter say.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the Republican candidate plans to step up his aggressive campaign to throw cold water on Harris’ sustained momentum.
Harris previewed the attacks she is likely to make on these issues during her speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), during which she commented live on Truth Social.
“Kamala’s biography won’t lower prices at the grocery store or the gas pump,” he wrote, referencing her stories about her immigrant mother and her work as a prosecutor. “She said, ‘chart a new path forward,’ but she’s had three and a half years and has done nothing but HARM.”
In capital letters, she also criticized her record as “border czar,” something Democrats have been trying to shield her from since it became clear she would be the nominee instead of Joe Biden.
Campaign experts say former President Donald Trump is ready to refocus on the issues and hit Kamala Harris and Democrats where it hurts.
Trump and his allies believe Harris is the weakest on the border and the economy
Biden’s withdrawal from the race appears to have shaken up a campaign that was rather slow for both candidates. The race has become what Americans have come to expect at this point in a presidential election: daily rallies and constant media appearances.
Trump’s advisers say he will be much more active in the campaign going forward, the WSJ reported.
He is scheduled to speak at a National Guard conference in Detroit on Monday. On Thursday, he will be in Michigan and Wisconsin all day, holding events. Then, to close out next week, he will fly to Pennsylvania for a rally.
Against Trump’s instincts, his advisers have organized smaller events for him so he can focus on the issues at hand and actively appeal to undecided voters and independents rather than the enthusiastic MAGA fans who go to rallies and are already with him.
On Thursday, for example, he held a more low-key event in front of the border wall in Cochise County, Arizona, where he said Biden and Harris wasted taxpayer money by letting wall construction materials go to waste.
At the border event in Arizona, he invited relatives of Americans killed by illegal immigrants to tell their stories.
After families in Texas and Maryland revealed harrowing details of their loved ones’ brutal deaths, Trump announced policy priorities to prevent future tragedies.
At the event, he invited family members of Americans killed by illegal immigrants and allowed them to tell their devastating stories who also expressed support for him and the dangers of Harris’ border policy.
“We will seal the border, stop the invasion, and launch the largest deportation effort in American history,” Trump said after the families spoke.
Trump will also bring back his campaign manager from his first campaign in 2016, Corey Lewandowski.
Lewandowski will reportedly act as another sounding board for Trump, and will also make numerous television appearances in the coming weeks.
Taylor Budowich is another key, but lesser-known, ally joining the team.
He joins the campaign after running MAGA PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC, and is said to have a strong relationship with Trump.
Experts say he is good at giving advice and hope his counsel will be crucial to Trump staying true to his message.
Now that Biden is out of the race, Trump is looking for powerful lines of attack against Harris
One that appears to be gaining traction is that Harris is stealing Trump policies, chief among them his idea to abolish tip taxes.
That’s especially important now that Biden is out of the race. Trump, per habit, continued to attack the current president long after he dropped out, but now he’s looking for lines of attack that will work well against Harris specifically.
One response he seems to have adopted is that the vice president is stealing his policies.
Trump promised to abolish the tip tax for service workers during a June 9 rally in Las Vegas, and even pitched the idea to congressional Republicans days later..
Harris made the same promise two weeks ago, prompting many on the right to criticize her for stealing one of Trump’s popular olive branches from the working class.
Trump held another rally on Friday in Las Vegas, where this idea could really appeal to Nevada casino workers who rely on tips for a living.
“She’s a copycat,” Trump said on stage.
Beyond new attacks and smaller, issue-focused events, Trump and his supporters plan to gain ground among voters through less traditional avenues.
Trump and his supporters hope to appear on more podcasts to attract young men. Trump recently appeared on comedian Theo Von’s podcast, from left:
Another attempt to connect with young people came when Trump appeared on a broadcast with internet personality Adin Ross earlier this month.
This means we can expect Trump to do things similar to his interview with Elon Musk on X or his podcast with comedian Theo Von last week.
This strategy, campaign officials say, is aimed at reaching more undecided voters, primarily young men, who are often more likely to listen to alternative media sources.
The crème de la crème of the podcast world would obviously be Joe Rogan, who said that in 2022 he turned down multiple requests from Trump to appear on his Spotify-hosted show.
Trump never publicly responded to that claim, but he did attack Rogan this month for saying positive things about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has since dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.
The Trump campaign is also looking to hire stand-ins for podcasts geared more toward black male audiences, such as “Earn Your Leisure,” “Market Mondays” and others, the WSJ reported.
Trump and his allies have reportedly expressed frustration with the upward trajectory of Harris’s campaign, but are hopeful that the momentum will level off.
While Trump and company are concerned about the energy surrounding Harris’ campaign, most polling aggregators only give her a national lead of 1.5 to 3.6 points, which is within the margin of error of most individual polls.
Most polling aggregators put Harris ahead nationally by between 1.5 and 3.6 points, which is within the margin of error for most individual polls.
At an event in North Carolina on Wednesday, billed as a speech on national security issues, Trump delegated campaign strategy to his own supporters.
While lamenting how former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle made “very nasty” attacks on him during the Democratic National Convention, he asked rally-goers whether he should use personal attacks or not.
The crowd overwhelmingly agreed that this was the way it should be.
“My advisers are fired,” Trump joked. “I’d rather he stay in politics. It’s hard sometimes when you’re under attack from all sides.”
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