Clouds hang over Trump’s campaign reboot
MIAMI — Friday was supposed to be the day President Donald Trump’s campaign reboot itself got a reboot. Instead, it hit another snag.
Amid uncertainty over whether he can still draw big and enthusiastic crowds to his signature rallies in the coronavirus era, Mr. Trump postponed a planned Saturday rally in Portsmouth, N.H., citing a tropical storm expected to hit a swath of the East Coast.
“With Tropical Storm Fay heading towards the Great State of New Hampshire this weekend, we are forced to reschedule our Portsmouth, New Hampshire Rally at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “Stay safe, we will be there soon!”
The latest setback came as the Trump campaign casts about for ways to reverse its recent downward slide in the polls at a time when the president is facing widespread criticism over his handling of the pandemic and his harsh stance against those protesting racial injustice.
With growing whispers of a staff shakeup and behind-the-scenes fingerpointing among White House, campaign and Republican Party officials, the campaign has been looking for something to reverse the negative momentum.
But attack lines against Democratic rival Joe Biden have failed to get traction, and attempts to get Mr. Trump back on the road have faltered. His rally in Tulsa, Okla., three weeks ago was intended to mark his triumphal return to the trail, but it produced a surprisingly sparse crowd, and campaign travel again was put on hold.
Mr. Trump’s visit to Florida was supposed to launch back-to-back days of high -profile campaigning but instead wound up being a oneoff. He did fit in a campaign fundraiser in South Florida and events focused on government counternarcotics efforts and support for the Venezuelan people.
At his Doral event with Venezuelan expatriates, Mr. Trump courted a segment of Florida’s diverse Hispanic population by sharpening an emerging attack line: Mr. Biden might not be a socialist, but he is running past his expiration date and controlled by an ascendant liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
“Republicans are the party of freedom, and Democrats are the party of socialism and worse,” Mr. Trump argued.
His visit to Florida took him to terrain where COVID-19’s surge threatens his hold on a must-win state and raises questions about Republican aims to hold their nominating convention in Jacksonville next month.
Mr. Biden pointed to Florida’s rising coronavirus cases, saying, “It is clear that Trump’s response — ignore, blame others, and distract — has come at the expense of Florida families.”
But Saturday’s New Hampshire visit was more problematic. Campaign officials privately acknowledged there had been fears all along about how many people would attend the Portsmouth rally. After the disappointing turnout in Tulsa, aides were intent on avoiding a repeat.
Once the storm entered the forecast, even if the rain was expected to stop in the hours before the rally, concerns about turnout only grew. For the event’s scheduled start time Saturday evening, Weather.com forecast a 15% chance of rain.
But there was also strong opposition to Mr. Trump’s rally among some prominent New Hampshire Republicans. Judd Gregg, who previously served New Hampshire both as a governor and senator, bluntly called Mr. Trump’s planned appearance “a mistake.”
“New Hampshire has been extremely aggressive under the governor in containing the virus,” Mr. Gregg said in an interview with The Associated Press, confirming that he had not planned to attend. “People are concerned about folks bringing the problem to us.”