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Showing Original Post only (View all)Trump Desperate, Despondent as Numbers Crater, "Loser" Label Looms [View all]
Source: Vanity Fair
With Donald Trumps approval sinking to Jimmy Carter levels and coronavirus cases spiking across the country, Trump is reluctantly waking up to the grim reality that, if the current situation holds, his reelection is gone. Republicans that have spoken with Trump in recent days describe him as depressed and down in the dumps. People around him think his hearts not in it, a Republican close to the White House said. Torn between the imperative to win suburban voters and his instincts to play to his base, Trump has complained to people that hes in a political box with no obvious way out. According to the Republican, Trump called Tucker Carlson late last week and said, what do I do? What do I do?
To console himself, Trump still has moments of magical thinking. He says the polls are all fake, a Republican in touch with Trump told me. But the bad news keeps coming. This week, Jacksonville, Floridawhere Trump moved the Republican National Convention so he could hold a 15,000-person rally next monthmandated that people wear masks indoors to slow the explosion of COVID-19 cases. According to a Republican working on the convention, the campaign is now preparing to cancel the event so that Trump doesnt suffer another Tulsalike humiliation. They probably wont have it, the source said. Its not going to be the soft landing Trump wanted.
Neither the Trump campaign nor the White House responded to requests for comment.
Trump remains furious at his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom he blames for the campaigns dismal poll numbers. Axios reported this week that Trump complained privately that Kushners advice on criminal-justice reform damaged Trump politically. But because Kushner is family, sources say its unlikely that Trump will formally strip him of authority.
Read more: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/trump-despondent-as-numbers-crater-loser-label-looms