Republicans debate whether Trump’s rallies are helping or hurting campaign

26 August 2024

Trump's campaign — and psyche — are threatened as coronavirus takes away his rallies: report

Many prominent Republicans, from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, have been urging Donald Trump to avoid personal attacks on Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and stick to an issue-driven campaign. But Trump has defiantly ignored that advice, attacking Harris in ways that critics have described as sexist and racist.

The Guardian's Chris McGreal, in an article published on August 26, describes a debate Republicans have been having about Trump's campaign rallies: Are they doing more to help or harm his campaign?

The rallies, McGreal observes, excite his hardcore MAGA base. But his inflammatory comments run the risk of alienating swing voters.

Frank Scavo, a Trump supporter in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, told The Guardian, "These rallies fire up the base to go out there and knock on doors. His base will walk on fire for him, but plenty of other Republicans don't vote. Are they demoralized? Do they think their vote doesn't count? Most of it is apathy. But if we don't get people out there knocking on doors, Trump's not going to win Luzerne County. But to do that, Trump's got to focus on the message and not get distracted by personal attacks."

Scavo added, "Trump's a good communicator. He's got the issues, common-sense issues — most of them economic, not social. He should leave the attacks on Kamala to others, at least until the debate."

But Jenny, a voter in the Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania, has grown disenchanted with Trump after voting for him in 2016 and 2020 — especially after the comments he made during a recent rally.

Jenny told The Guardian, "He reminded me why I'm not going to vote for him this time. I voted for him in 2016 and had a Trump flag in the front yard. I voted for him again in 2020 but didn't put the flag out that time. I've been thinking of voting for him again because (President Joe) Biden's been so bad for the economy and Kamala won't be any better. But after listening to that, I'm actually afraid of Trump being president again."

Jenny added, "I don't know what he was talking about half the time. Perhaps he was always like that, but he seems worse, more unstable."

Read The Guardian's full article at this link (subscription required).

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