According to a report from Politico, Donald Trump has been working the phones day and night, calling supporters who worked on his successful 2016 presidential campaign for advice on how to turn around his 2020 re-election campaign.
With two weeks to go, a campaign war chest that is on the verge of being depleted, and polls showing he may lose in a landslide, the president is reportedly reaching out for both advice and reassurances that his political career is not at an end.
Case in point, Politico reports, Brian Seitchik, Trump's 2016 Arizona director recently got a call from the president asking about his prospects in the state -- which Seitchek was said was still a possibility.
Reporting that, "Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, two key players during Trump's first run before they were frozen out of his political organization, have reemerged as key advisers," Politico's Alex Isenstadt wrote, "For a president who has long put loyalty above all else, the reliance on his 2016 coterie represents a fitting coda to a tumultuous campaign. After spending years developing a massive, corporate-style apparatus, Trump is looking to his originals to pull him across the finish line."
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who also served on the 2016 campaign and was hastily installed after the demotion of previous campaign manager Brad Parscale as the campaign collapsed, said it makes sense to reach out for help and advice.
“Our campaign team shocked the experts, critics and naysayers in 2016,” he explained. “We’d be crazy to not tap into their experience this time around. While our team has naturally grown from the last campaign, I’ve relied on our 2016 Trump veterans every step of the way.”
The re-emergence of Bossie and Lewandowsky have been the most prominent rehires with the president insisting they get more airtime as campaign surrogates.
Reporting that "State-level operatives who served on Trump’s 2016 effort are back and playing an even bigger role this time around. They're shaping plans for the final weeks of the race, offering input on regular Saturday morning conference calls that Stepien has introduced. While they have been involved for months, senior campaign officials say their influence has recently intensified," Isenstadt said some Republicans remain skeptical they can re-create the success of 2016 -- and that he may just be hiring yes men
"Some Republicans express concern that by relying so heavily on originals, Trump is getting overly positive feedback that doesn’t match up with reality," the report states. " But to others, it’s to be expected for a president who has long gravitated toward familiarity and who loves to relive the glory days of his first campaign."
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