Donald Trump’s campaign seems to be in full panic mode.
Donald Trump’s campaign advisers may be getting worried.
As the campaign has struggled to land any sort of attack against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, criticism has come inside and outside the campaign from dissatisfied conservatives, and advisers are being forced to downplay dissension within the ranks.
“As President Trump said, he thinks Ms Wiles and Mr LaCivita are doing a phenomenal job and any rumors to the contrary are false and not rooted in reality,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said in a statement to The Guardian regarding the status of campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, who have recently become the subject of a far-right campaign to have Trump fire them.
“This campaign is focused on winning, and anyone not focused on electing President Trump and defeating Kamala Harris is doing nothing but hurting every American. Detractors and lobbyists are waging a destructive battle of rumor and innuendo, and they are well known and will be remembered,” the statement added.
But that’s not likely to quiet detractors, especially with the news Thursday that Corey Lewandowski, a Trump 2016 campaign veteran, will be rejoining the campaign at a level above LaCivita and Wiles. Earlier this month, Trump and his daughter-in-law and Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump met with Kellyanne Conway, a 2016 Trump campaign adviser and later campaign manager, to discuss strategy.
That meeting didn’t go over well inside the current Trump campaign, with advisers seeing Conway as intruding on the campaign and possibly even wishing to take over, according to The Guardian’s sources. While Trump played down the meeting and called out Conway’s Ukraine lobbying and 2023 idea for a 15-week abortion ban, there are still nervous vibes within the campaign.
In 2016, Trump made late changes to his campaign staff and won the election, but in 2020, he did the same and lost. Right now, the former president and convicted felon is having trouble staying on message, worrying Republican lawmakers. He’s also obsessed with recruiting poll watchers and observers, which could hurt the GOP ground game. Will Trump overcome these issues by the time November rolls around?