Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House has been relatively low-key — influenced by the turmoil over President Joe Biden and whether he will drop out of the race — and will soon end.
After a few quiet days following their historic first debate, Trump and his team are back to preparing to announce a vice presidential pick, taunt Biden, plan political rallies, and gear up for their nominating convention, which will be held July 15-18 in Milwaukee.
They also show signs of preparing to run against and attack Vice President Kamala Harris in full force. Harris will be the likely foe if Biden drops out after his June 27 disastrous debate performance.
“Respects to our potentially new Democrat Challenger, Laffin’ Kamala Harris,” said Trump in a message posted July 4 on Truth Social.
Two Trump rallies scheduled next week
Donald Trump hasn’t held a public event since the June 28 Virginia rally, the day after the debate. The president’s struggles in the face-to-face battle have prompted calls for him to drop out.
Although Trump’s weekend schedule was empty, on Tuesday, the former president will address an event near Miami about the “catastrophic consequences” of Biden’s presidency.
A week from this past Saturday, Trump also plans to “emphasize the horrendous effects” of the Biden era at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The Trump team’s plan comes as Joe Biden travels to Madison, Wisconsin, for a high-profile interview and speech on ABC News. He is attempting to save his campaign amid calls from some party members to step down.
The president is also trying to redirect attention back to Trump. The campaign said he plans to “underscore the stakes of this election for our democracy, our rights and freedoms, and our economy.”
When speaking to supporters in Madison Friday, Biden vowed to remain in the race and continued to argue Trump is a threat to democracy while emphasizing he is a convicted felon.
The president noted a jury in New York City found Trump guilty of an illegal hush money scheme and that a civil jury trial found him liable for the sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll as well as a judge finding he had committed bank loan fraud.
“Donald Trump isn’t just a convicted criminal, he’s a one-man crime wave,” said Biden.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of his criminal cases and claims the legal actions against him are politically motivated. He was able to clear his immediate schedule when his sentencing in the hush money case, previously set for July 11, was pushed back to September.
Trump vs. Biden or Trump vs. Harris
The Trump team is prepping for the strangest of situations. They’re still uncertain who their opponent will be — Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
In the days following the debate, Trump and his aides said they expected Biden, the incumbent, to retain the Democratic nomination.
More recently, Trump and aides started talking about Harris ending up as their opponent.
In a video he posted on Truth Social, Trump told supporters he met on the golf course that he expected to run against Harris. He also touted his debate performance against “old broken-down” Biden, saying he is “quitting the race…I got him out of there.”
“That means we have Kamala,” added Trump. “I think she’s going to be better. She’s so bad.”
When taunting Biden, Trump has challenged him to an additional debate with no moderators. The two candidates have already agreed to a second debate on September 10, although it is now less certain who the Democratic candidate will be.
Trump’s running mate announcement within two weeks
The Trump campaign also plans to reveal its vice presidential nominee — possibly next week or during the week of the Republican convention later in the month in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
According to allies and aides, Trump is said to be focused on three leading candidates: Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Governor of North Dakota Doug Burgum, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
Although the Trump campaign has been pretty low-key, the Republican vice-presidential hopefuls have been vocal about the debate fallout. “This is the most consequential, historic debate in history,” said Burgum on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Latest polls
Donald Trump’s campaign has been satisfied with staying out of the way during a weeklong news cycle focused on President Biden’s troubles.
That includes the latest polls showing Trump has gained substantial ground since the debate. As of Friday, poll averages collected by the Clear Politics website give the former president a nationwide lead of over three percentage points.
The presumptive Republican nominee also posted a string of articles on Truth Social Friday about poll numbers in battleground states.
