AFPDonald Trump is not in Chicago, but his presence looms over everything and he is clearly following events here.
Several aides told me, with some disbelief, that the former president did not watch the Democratic National Convention because he had no interest in watching Democratic “television ads.”
But a senior campaign official confirmed on condition of anonymity that Trump is following the attacks against him and is angry about them.
According to an ally who talks to the former president weekly, Trump will win in November if he keeps talking about the economy, borders and crime.
At the beginning of this week, that looked possible. Trump plans to hold a series of rallies in Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Arizona, each focused on these political and economic topics.
But with night after night of anti-Trump speeches in Chicago, the message of persistence is gone. That’s not what his supporters told him they wanted, anyway.
Wednesday’s game in North Carolina was a classic for Trump, becoming a referendum on his own team’s strategy. “They always say, ‘Sir, please follow the policy and don’t take it personally’… yet [the Democrats are] These guys got personal all night long. Do I still have to stick to the policy?
He then polled the crowd: More policy or personal? His fans cheered and wanted a show from Trump, not a series of boring economic proposals. “My advisor got fired!” he joked. He then said he would stick to his policy but could not ignore the attacks.
As a result, campaign strategy now seems to depend on the whims of candidates and feedback from the masses. That makes life difficult for his campaign advisers, who have repeatedly told me that their biggest concern in this campaign is getting Trump to focus on issues rather than controversial personal attacks.
Some of that has happened this week.
Trump took to social media late Wednesday night to criticize Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had given an emotional speech earlier in the evening. Trump clearly didn’t like what he heard.
“The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Grand Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, gave a very bad and terrible speech,” Trump wrote.
“I have done more for Israel than any president…Shapiro has done nothing for Israel and never will.”
The fact that he listed Mr. Shapiro as Jewish did not go unnoticed. It was used as an example of a racial dog whistle on US morning shows.
After the Obamas criticized Trump at the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday night, Trump responded at a rally in North Carolina with similar racial insinuations again.
“Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night?” Trump said. “He’s taking a shot at your president. So is Michelle.”
It’s true that they did attack him quite personally, but the use of Mr. Obama’s middle name has long been used to incite racial hatred against him.
The problem for Trump’s team is that their candidate thrives on controversy, which then dominates headlines and then distracts from their attempts to point out weaknesses in their opponent’s policy positions.
“It doesn’t matter what he talks about for 45 minutes,” one consultant told me on condition of anonymity. “One comment or answer to a question gives the left all it needs to change the conversation.”
