As nerves grew in the run-up to the first debate of the US presidential election, some close to Donald Trump considered whether the former president might announce his running mate on stage or shortly afterwards if the night took an unfavorable turn. .
The wildcard scenario was one of several ideas for post-debate distractions floated by Trump’s allies, still reeling from the Republican’s first out-of-control debate appearance in 2020. But that card would ultimately be left in the deck.
Instead of managing the fallout from Trump’s performance at Thursday’s event, the former president and his team now face an unexpected challenge: keeping their attention on President Joe Biden as they navigate a busy race to the National Convention. Republican next month, during which Trump will be tried for his criminal convictions and must choose a running mate.
The 81-year-old incumbent’s confidence-shattering fights have engulfed the post-debate discourse, and Democratic concern over the presumptive nominee’s ability to run threatens to overshadow Biden’s campaign in the near future.
Taking a victory lap at a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Friday, Trump called Biden “grossly incompetent” while mocking the president’s weeklong debate preparation at Camp David.
“He studied so much he didn’t know what the hell he was doing,” Trump said.
Behind the scenes, Trump’s advisers are plotting how best to make the most of Biden’s dismal showing, hoping to shift momentum in a race that has been unaffected for months by outside forces. Asked whether Biden’s clips from Thursday night would appear in upcoming ads, Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita told Fox News: “Duh.”
Trump offered deeper insight into their thinking at Friday’s campaign event, limiting his attacks to Biden’s appearance and insisting that his opponent’s age was not a factor in the debate’s outcome. The comments in Virginia aligned closely with the message allies have urged Trump to adhere to as candidates approach November.
“No amount of rest or equipment could help him defend his atrocious record,” Trump said. “It’s not defensible.”
Yet even as he seeks to keep the spotlight on Biden’s debate shortcomings, Trump is also entering a critical three-week period full of potential defining moments that could further alter the stakes of the election.
This Monday (1), the US Supreme Court decides whether the former president has absolute immunity against crimes he may have committed during his term in office. The ruling could determine the fate of special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump on election subversion charges.
Trump’s team celebrated the legal and political implications of a separate ruling Friday from the high court that ruled federal prosecutors overstepped the mark by charging hundreds of Jan. 6, 2021 protesters with obstruction — an allegation Smith also made. against the former president.
While it is unlikely to significantly alter Trump’s case, Trump’s team plans to campaign on the ruling to bolster their baseless claims that Biden’s Justice Department is targeting his Republican predecessor and his supporters.
Then, on July 11, Trump is expected to be sentenced on the 34 criminal convictions handed down to him last month by a Manhattan jury. The judge in the case has discretionary power to impose a series of punishments on the former president, from community service and probation to fines and even prison time.
The Republican convention in Milwaukee will begin just four days later. And at some point before Trump accepts his party’s nomination on July 18, he will also have to choose a running mate, a decision that became less urgent — though no less important — in Thursday’s debate.
Taking advantage of these moments presents opportunities for Trump to leverage media coverage beyond the debate and further bolster his campaign coffers.
Before the debate even ended, Trump’s campaign sent his supporters a text message declaring that he had “destroyed” Biden, along with a link to buy new clothes. In the hours after Trump left the stage, his team contemplated how to continue to profit while relishing Democratic panic over Biden’s appearance.
Trump’s campaign also predicts that next month’s sentencing will bring another wave of donations related to his legal troubles, after he raised more than $50 million online in the 24 hours following his conviction, undermining Biden’s monetary advantage. The Republican Party convention, traditionally a defining political and financial milestone in presidential campaigns, is expected to bring in more money as well.
The question remains of when to reveal his pick for vice president.
Trump’s top advisers dismissed speculation that an announcement could come during debate week.
However, these same people have argued that Trump can make his choice before the convention, with some telling the CNN who hope their decision is more likely to come before the self-imposed deadline to announce their pick in Milwaukee.
“I was always of the opinion that this decision would come before the convention,” said a Trump ally. “They want to raise funds with this announcement, and choosing a vice president is its own moment.”
Democrats, however, appear eager to shift the debate conversation to the imminent Republican vice presidents.
The party spent weeks scrutinizing the backgrounds of potential candidates, publicizing their past positions on abortion and putting together clips of their past criticism of Trump.
After Thursday’s event, the Democratic National Committee criticized one of the leading candidates for the position, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, for defending Trump’s repeated refusal to say he would accept the November election results. Burgum, in an interview with NBC in the debate room, repeated Trump’s conspiracies about the 2020 election.
“Just like the rest of Trump’s vice presidential candidates, Burgum is ready and willing to push Trump’s dangerous attacks on our democracy and sell out our basic values as Americans if it helps him join Trump’s losing ticket in November,” DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd said in a statement.
Share:
