Trump ‘resolved’ to return to N.H.
But rallies could be smaller amid coronavirus concerns
President Trump is “resolved” in his desire to get back to the Granite State after postponing a rally there last week, Corey Lewandowski said Friday even as he tempered turnout expectations for the campaign’s signature events amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The expectation that Donald Trump is always going to have a 25,000-person rally in the world of post-coronavirus may not be fair anymore,” Lewandowski, a former Trump 2016 campaign manager, told the Herald. “You have to put it in the context of the way we see the world when there are no major sporting events going on and people are much more prone to be at home.”
Trump’s return to the trail got off to a rocky start last month with a Tulsa, Okla., rally that drew an underwhelming crowd and that a top county health official later said “more than likely” contributed to a spike in coronavirus cases. An outdoor event planned for Portsmouth, N.H., last weekend was scrapped due to the threat of inclement weather.
Lewandowski said team Trump is adjusting to the realities of rallying in a pandemic and is weighing whether to make masks a requirement. Masks were largely unseen at the Tulsa rally, but the campaign planned to provide them in Portsmouth.
“We’re really looking at, in the world of coronavirus, going back and providing people the opportunity to listen to the president in a socially distant, responsible manner,” Lewandowski said. “That is going to entail really looking at where we do events: Are they all going to be indoors or do they all need to be outdoors? Are masks going to be required or just simply provided?”
In a wide-ranging interview with the Herald Friday, Lewandowski touted Trump’s commitment to the Granite State, explained the staffing shakeup that saw campaign manager Brad Parscale replaced with veteran operative Bill Stepien, and dismissed the Republican incumbent’s less-than-favorable recent polling against Democratic foe Joe Biden.
Trump has been keenly focused on winning New Hampshire since narrowly losing to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. The state was the first to receive fulltime Trump Victory staff this cycle and now boasts upwards of 30 people. Biden’s campaign announced key staff in the state on Friday.
“The president has been resolved in the fact he wants to be in New Hampshire,” Lewandowski said. “He’s reminding me of that almost on a daily basis.”
Lewandowski said the Portsmouth rally — set to be Trump’s third visit to the state in a year — will likely be further delayed after the campaign’s leadership switch.
He addressed Parscale’s ouster as campaign manager by saying the strategist he hired in 2016 would be returning to his “core competency” running digital operations.
And he brushed off recent polls that have shown Trump trailing Biden nationally and in battleground states by citing surveys this time last cycle that had Clinton up by a solid margin.
“I believe right now, even in the world of COVID, there has always been that silent majority of people who don’t want to publicly say they’re supporting Donald Trump because they don’t want the consternation,” Lewandowski said. “Private polling data will tell you that the race in New Hampshire is absolutely within the margin of error right now.”