Trump campaign caught flat-footed by possibility of Democratic race shakeup: report

Former President Donald Trump's campaign should be riding high at the moment, with the Democratic Party in a circular firing squad over whether to try to force out President Joe Biden over concerns about health.

There's just one problem, reportedThe Atlantic: Trump's campaign chiefs, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, aren't really sure what to do if Biden is forced out.

"As the likelihood of a Trump-versus-Biden rematch set in, the public responded to the two candidates precisely as LaCivita and his campaign co-manager, Susie Wiles, had hoped," wrote Tim Alberta. "The percentage of voters who felt that Biden, at 81, was too old for another term rose throughout 2023, even as the electorate’s concerns about Trump’s age, 78, remained relatively static. By the end of the primaries, the public’s attitude toward the two nominees had begun to harden: One was a liar, a scoundrel, and a crook — but the other one, the old one, was unfit to be president."

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Wiles and LaCivita insisted to reporters months ago that they have solid contingency plans for if Biden exits the race — but according to Alberta, they don't seem as confident about that anymore.

"By mid-June ... not long before the debate, their tone had changed," wrote Alberta. "Trump was speaking at a Turning Point USA rally in Detroit and the three of us stood backstage, leaning against the wall of a dimly lit cargo bay, a pair of Secret Service vehicles idling nearby. When I asked about the prospect of Trump facing a different Democratic opponent in the fall, LaCivita and Wiles shook their heads. They told me it was too late; the most influential players in Democratic politics had become too invested in the narrative that Biden was fully competent and capable of serving another four years." However, "as we talked after the debate, it was apparent that they might have miscalculated. Elected Democrats were calling for Biden’s removal from the ticket."

When Alberta asked Wiles how they would handle a Biden departure at this point, she said, “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

For his part, Biden remains defiant and insists he will continue his campaign for a second term — and while Trump has seen a slight bump in some polling, a new study out of Northeastern University suggests that overall voting preferences have shifted little since the debate.