'Window is closing': GOP strategist says Trump has two tasks — and he's failing both

A longtime anti-Trump Republican strategist outlined two key things former President Donald Trump must accomplish to keep on track to win — and in his view, he's failing to do both of them.

The former president, who had been building a small but durable lead in battleground states earlier in the summer, has suddenly found himself slipping after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harristook over as the Democratic nominee.

"Trump has two essential objectives to get back into a stronger position," wrote Mike Madrid in a post Monday on X. "1. He has to define Kamala and they’re losing that battle. The window is closing. 2. He has to redefine himself. Good luck."

The real danger for Trump, continued Madrid, is that "If Harris goes into her convention with continuing positives and momentum this is gonna be really tough for Trump to turn around. Public opinion will start to cement in place."

ALSO READ: Trump's insatiable ego is destroying the former president

The former president, according to media outlets, is unnerved by the turnaround of the election, and in particular Harris' ability to draw massive crowds, something Trump has always prided himself on doing and embellished whenever he could.

Over the weekend, Trump even started pushing a conspiracy theory that the images of Harris' large rally in Detroit last week were A.I.-generated — which has been debunked by a number of journalists independently taking photographs and video of the event, and even has some Trump supporters fearful he's losing the plot.

Even prior to Harris' entrance in the race, Madrid had flagged that Trump has a key vulnerability in that his support in the primaries among hardcore Republican voters appeared to be softer than anticipated.