NEW YORK (AP) Donald Trump I like being the center of attention.
But then President Joe Biden The Republican front-runner has kept a low profile after his disastrous debate defeat, and attention is now focused on the drama engulfing Democrats as he and his campaign celebrate a string of legal and political victories ahead of the Republican National Convention this month.
Trump’s candidacy began last week with the first debate. Biden’s performance was so dismal He has spent the days since fending off calls from anxious Democrats for him to resign to save the party from electoral defeat up and down the aisle.
on monday, The US Supreme Court ruled Former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution, and Trump’s Overturning his loss to Biden in the 2020 electionIt is almost certain that he will not be tried before Election Day.
And on Tuesday, the judge in Trump’s New York hush money criminal trial The judgement was postponed To assess the impact of the Supreme Court decision.
The good news keeps on coming, Massive fundraising The decision, which erased Biden’s big financial advantage, has given Trump and his campaign cause for celebration ahead of this month’s convention — and frustrated Biden supporters who want the focus to be on Trump’s campaign. Comprehensive policy agenda for the second term His comments during the debate Minimize the Capitol riots He also suggested he might not accept the results of this election either.
Instead of celebrating his victory, Trump has kept a low profile, giving several radio interviews over the weekend and being active on his website, Truth Social, but with no public events scheduled this week.
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That’s partly a function of the calendar, with the Fourth of July falling on Thursday.But the Trump campaign knows the Biden team is facing intense pressure and is perfectly comfortable keeping the focus on the incumbent, said people familiar with the strategy who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the campaign’s thinking.
Republican strategist Brendan Buck, who is not a supporter of Trump, praised Trump’s “unusually disciplined” response to the debate and for “putting Biden at his wits’ end.”
But he said challenges remain for the former president as he seeks a second term.
“Trump remains a very vulnerable and bad candidate, which makes this even worse,” he said of the debate fiasco. “I think Donald Trump is still very much capable of ruining this.”
“Within a few weeks, a united and enthusiastic Republican Party will formally nominate President Trump. By then, President Trump will have selected his next Vice President from a pool of elected officials and business leaders that significantly exceeds the current Vice President,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said in a statement.
“The Trump campaign will continue to build on the momentum President Trump has gained to grow the movement, raise the funds necessary to win, and move forward in the fall with a historic victory,” she added.
Recent events may also influence the timing of President Trump’s announcement of his running mate, which will undoubtedly be a highly anticipated event and will provoke a flurry of coverage about his choice’s track record and past comments.
Campaign officials have repeatedly said Trump will announce a nominee when he is ready and have warned that the announcement could come at any time.
But some allies said they thought Trump was more likely to wait.
“Donald Trump is on a roll. He’s playing his cards perfectly,” said Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, who accompanied him to the June 27 debate and is now a senior adviser to the convention. Given the current situation, “there’s no reason to make an announcement and divert media attention from Joe Biden,” Lewandowski said.
With the election still months away, Lewandowski argued that Trump is in a stronger position now than he was at the end of the last campaign.
“All of this indicates that the campaign intends to keep its foot on the gas and keep the pressure on the Biden campaign,” he said.
Meanwhile, aides are gleefully reeling from the Biden campaign’s plight. Trump’s chief press secretary, Steven Chan, appeared on a Biden media conference call on Monday following the Supreme Court’s decision and mocked the campaign on social media for including him.
On Tuesday, Chang joked that he would burst into a conference call with White House staff.
Biden and his allies, meanwhile, are trying to shift the focus back to Trump, who they say has again downplayed the violence. The attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 During the debate, he refused to condemn those who attacked police officers and stormed into the building by smashing doors and windows.
Trump also repeatedly refused to state definitively whether he would accept the results of the November election, saying he would only do so “if it was a fair, legitimate and good election.” Despite Trump’s years of spreading false fears about election fraud, there is no reason to think that will not be the case.
Democrats also said Trump was threatening to impose restrictions on immigrants entering the U.S. illegally. “Black Jobs” and “Hispanic Jobs” They claimed that Trump was insulting to people of color.
And Biden and his allies are warning of the impact of a Supreme Court ruling that declared Trump cannot be prosecuted for key moments outlined in the Jan. 6 indictment. They said Trump had previously stated He will be a “dictator” on his first day in office. And his Threatening to prosecute political opponents.
Trump posted several posts on his Truth social network over the weekend that reflected long-simmering grievances and threats of political retribution. One suggested former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican critic, was “guilty of treason” and asked his supporters to share the post if they wanted to see a “televised military tribunal.” Another included photos of Biden and other Democratic and Republican officials and suggested they should be jailed.
“Mr. Trump now has the cover he needs to jail and assassinate his opponents, order the military to overturn a free and fair election, and accept bribes in exchange for pardons with full immunity,” Biden campaign spokesman Amar Moosa said in a statement. “In November, voters must stop Mr. Trump from turning the Oval Office into his own throne room.”
Trump has a long history of using events that would be devastating and career-ending for anyone else as fuel for his campaign.
He has been indicted four times and convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, but his criminal trials and convictions have done little to damage his standing at the polls and instead appear to have helped him raise millions of dollars.
His campaign announced on Tuesday He raised more money than Biden in the second quarter of this year.Revenues were reported as $331 million.
In a sign of how Trump’s opponents feel about the state of the race, Buck, the Republican strategist, warned that Trump could find himself in a bind if Biden were to drop out of the race in the aftermath of the debate, even if that seems unlikely at this point. That could leave Trump facing a fresher face who may be more energetic and better at campaigning than Biden.
“If Biden backs out, this could turn this lucky week into an unlucky one,” Buck said.
