Trump is struggling to stick to a consistent message that resonates with voters, vacillating almost daily between scripted events and remarks and incendiary commentary that risks alienating key voting blocs in an election year.
The whiplash was on full display this week, as
Trump made a series of trips to underscore his administration’s focus on the coronavirus pandemic and economy.
Trump traveled to
North Carolina on Monday for an extremely brief, targeted event to tout progress on a COVID-19 vaccine. On Wednesday, he was in
Texas to sign permits boosting oil exports, and on Thursday he stopped by the
Red Cross to urge Americans who recovered from the coronavirus to donate convalescent plasma.
But efforts to keep the focus on those events were quickly undone by
the president’s claims that low-income housing developments that largely benefit minorities would “destroy” the suburbs, his retweet of a fringe doctor who supports the use of a controversial antimalarial drug to treat COVID-19 and his suggestion that Election Day be delayed.
The president trails presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in national and key swing state polls, particularly among suburban voters who contributed to his victory in 2016, worrying
some Republicans who see Trump’s unscripted remarks as increasingly hurting him.
“
He’s never going to change,” said one Republican operative who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “The most important thing is the state of the economy, the state of COVID and all things health … and in terms of his messaging, the only thing that matters is his messaging over the last 30 days.”
It’s clear that White House political strategists are considering such criticism.
The White House in mid-July shifted its messaging strategy around the coronavirus pandemic as Trump’s approval ratings on the crisis declined and his deficit to Biden in national polls grew.
In the last two weeks, Trump has resumed regular briefings on the coronavirus, and held events meant to highlight the administration's response to the pandemic, which has killed more than 150,000 Americans.
In a contrast to past briefings that were free-wheeling and often went on for more than an hour, the events of the past few weeks have lasted less than 30 minutes, been more focused
and featured fewer questions from the media.
Administration officials praised Trump's restraint,
pointing to small victories in getting the president to tweet that wearing a mask is “patriotic” and focusing on vaccine development.
But this week, the unscripted Trump started showing up again more often.
Trump wrote a series of late night tweets Monday criticizing Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert. He also spread unproven claims about the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that Trump has latched onto as a potential treatment for COVID-19 despite limited success.
Trump's official events at the Red Cross and in Florida were overshadowed by his tweet musing about delaying the November election, something he does not have the power to do but that set off alarm bells among Democrats who fear the president will cast doubt on the result.
Unpredictability has been a staple of Trump’s time in office, frustrating Republicans who are hoping for a more disciplined closing stretch of the 2020 campaign.
“
We had the economy contract by 32 percent, and Republicans and Democrats were unable to have any baseline agreement on an unemployment extension let alone a financial relief package, and his tweet about changing the election date dominated the headlines all day,” said Ryan Costello, a former Republican congressman who retired before the 2018 election.
“And I would expect more of that, and
if I were a House Republican I would not for a second think that I could lay out a campaign narrative and be able to execute on it without weekly, if not daily, disruptions based on whatever Trump says or does,” he added.