Several top Republicans have sounded the alarm over Donald Trump’s campaign strategy, including one who said his “head is exploding” as Kamala Harris continues to gain momentum.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Trump should focus on Harris’ record rather than the number of people who attend her rallies.
McCarthy told Fox News: “It’s going to be a race, and this race needs to be made not about personalities. Stop questioning the size of his crowds and start questioning his position on what he did as attorney general on crime!”
He said Harris was “a perfect person to run against” and that “she made the wrong choice when it came to vice president” and that as long as Trump can focus on that, he will be back in the race.
The former California congressman was not alone, however, as former Trump adviser Peter Navarro had a similar critique of the race the former president has run since Joe Biden dropped out.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Trump should focus on Harris’ record rather than those who attend his rallies.
“He needs votes, and the current campaign formula is simply not focused enough on the stark policy differences between him and Kamala Harris that will sway voters in key swing states,” he told Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast.
Navarro, who spent time in prison for her role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, said Trump instead attacks Harris “personally” and says her “support among undecided voters increases, particularly among women” when he does so.
“It’s just a fact of life, right now.”
Frank Luntz, dubbed “the Nostradamus of pollsters,” continued a media tour that saw him sound the alarm about the Trump campaign last week.
Luntz, who has said Harris is now the favorite to win, repeated his message from the weekend that Trump has lost message discipline.
He said the campaign should focus on issues, not attributes.
“If it comes down to attributes, Harris has a much better chance of winning because, frankly, people like her more than they like him. It’s something that, if you’re watching this right now, your head will explode and that’s part of the problem,” he told CNN.
Luntz added: “He’s lost touch with the people he needs and she’s in perfect contact.”
Trump was the overwhelming favorite last month when he appeared triumphantly at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee after being shot in an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
But after Harris replaced Biden, liberal media enthusiastically endorsed her campaign and she rode the momentum.
Trump was the overwhelming favorite last month when he appeared triumphantly at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee after being shot in an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
But since Harris replaced Biden, liberal media has thrown their support behind her campaign and she has gained momentum. The latest Real Clear Politics polling average shows Harris with a half-point lead over Trump. In the betting averages, that lead is larger, at 5.8 percentage points.
In a recent example, Harris generated more confidence than Trump on economic issues, marking a major shift in voter sentiment following Biden’s decision to withdraw.
The poll, conducted for the Financial Times and the Ross School of Business, found Harris holding a one-point lead. It is the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has outperformed Trump on economic issues since the poll began tracking voter sentiment on the issue nearly a year ago.
Another poll conducted by the New York Times and Siena College last week found Harris making gains in the key states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Among likely voters in each state, 50 percent said they would likely vote for Harris, while 46 percent said they would vote for Trump.
Donors are concerned about Trump’s recent strategy, according to The New York Times.
At an August 2 dinner in the Hamptons, Trump’s top supporters hoped he would “signal that he was recalibrating his stance after a series of damaging gaffes.”
But he did address his “stop the steal” claims about the 2020 election that his advisers have reportedly told him to drop.
Frank Luntz, dubbed “the Nostradamus of pollsters,” continued a media tour that saw him sound the alarm about the Trump campaign last week.
The former president last night risked further concern by falsely claiming that his Democratic opponent had doctored a crowd image at his rally last week in Detroit.
Republican sources told Axios over the weekend that the former president is “struggling to overcome his anger.”
The Trump campaign has considered many options to boost the president’s efforts, including the return of iconic campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, with endorsements from Melania and Lara Trump.
Trump’s 2024 campaign has suffered a triple whammy: the poor public reception to vice presidential candidate JD Vance, Harris’s “honeymoon period” upon entering the race and a similar effect on her choice of running mate, Tim Walz.
Now, what seemed to be a coronation for Trump to return to the White House against Biden has turned into a very close race, with Harris beginning to take the lead in the polls.
However, the “honeymoon phase” of Harris’ campaign and Walz’s announcement appear to be ending with accusations of “stolen valor” during the Minnesota governor’s military service.
Biden himself finally admitted on Sunday that he dropped out of the race because the polls between him and Trump were so dire that they threatened to wipe out Democrats at every level.