'Turning over an old leaf': Two problems Trump faces by using his 2016 strategy now

After President Joe Biden's poor debate performance against Donald Trump in June, the New York Times reported that the former president managed to secure his "largest lead" — according to Times/Siena polls — since 2015.

Then, when Biden dropped his reelection bid and selected Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement, "something funny happened," Atlantic staff writer David Graham writes in a Sunday, August 18 report.

Graham argues that instead of becoming the new and improved Trump some "Republicans promised" following the failed assassination attempt on his life, the ex-president is reverting back to his 2016 ways.

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"Meet the new Trump, same as the old Trump," the Atlantic staff writer submits. "He’s returning to the lengthy campaign news conferences he held in 2016, including two in roughly the past week. He’s planning to restart big open-air rallies, despite the assassination scare."

Graham notes that the MAGA hopeful is even stacking his campaign and potential administration with many of the same people — from 2016 Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski — who was fired the same year — to 2016 Trump campaign consultant Roger Stone.

"One can see why Trump would want to go back to what he feels worked in 2016," Graham writes, but he faces two big challenges. First, he just can’t pull off what he did then. The shtick is no longer fresh; remembering why these events were so riveting back then can be hard. He’s also eight years older, and sometimes that is very apparent."

The Atlantic writer adds, "Second, most people don’t like him, and they never have. Trump’s success in 2016 was less about his campaign than about the fact that many voters also didn’t like Hillary Clinton. (Even so, more voted for her than for him.) In 2020, running against a well-liked Biden, Trump lost. He was polling ahead in 2024 largely because Biden was no longer popular, but now that he’s been replaced with the more appealing Harris, Trump faces the problem of America’s durable anti-MAGA majority."

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Instead of becoming who the former president's MAGA allies say he is, "Trump is turning over an old leaf," Graham concludes.

Graham's full report is available at this link (subscription required).