Our books have discussed Trump's low character, which was on display this month At times, his crudeness has helped him appear transgressive. Lately, it has hurt him
Zoom in: This week, his campaign debuted a Pennsylvania mail-in voting website for a program called "Swamp the Vote," aimed at boosting GOP turnout in swing states.The same day, Trump called mail-in voting "terrible" during an interview with "Dr. Phil" McGraw.
"We want to get rid of mail-in voting," Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday, adding to the mixed messages coming from his campaign. Some Republicans, egged on by Trump, have associated mail-in voting with voter fraud — despite a lack of evidence.
For months, Trump's team has been training field volunteers to get out the Republican vote.But Trump is making clear he doesn't care as much about their efforts as he does "election integrity" — a push aimed in part at justifying his false claims that he lost the 2020 election only because of fraud. "Our primary focus is not to get out the vote — but to make sure they don't cheat," Trump said last week.
...
The ex-president continues to lean into personal attacks, despite his advisers' repeated efforts to get him to focus more on issues.They're writing policy proposals into his speeches, and pushing policy ideas on social media and in a daily campaign newsletter, Palm Beach Playbook.
Trump frequently deviates from prepared remarks to ask those at his rallies which nicknames he should give his opponents. Mispronouncing Harris' first name is a constant feature of his rallies. He's begun calling her "Comrade Kamala."
In North Carolina during the Democratic convention, Trump complained: "They always say, 'Sir, please stick to policy, don't get personal ... You'll win it on the border. You'll win it with inflation. You'll win it with your great military that you built.'"
He then did a "free poll" of the crowd: "Should I get personal, or should I not get personal?" The MAGA crowd roared, wanting more vintage Trump.
"My advisers are fired!" he joked at a time when he's brought back past advisers such as Corey Lewandowski.
