According to a report from the Daily Beast, all the grand plans Donald Trump and his campaign had for a triumphant re-election in November now is in tatters as the coronavirus pandemic rages on and an attempt at a law and order campaign has blown up in the president's face.
As the report notes, the president and his advisers had planned to run on a strong economy to assure his second term, but missteps on the COVID-19 crisis sent unemployment soaring as businesses shut down, employees were let go or furloughed and the death toll continued to climb.
Now, as one White House aide admitted, the chances of the president winning in November look "bleak."
"The planned rebirth would build upon a message crafted in the early months of this year, when Trump was gearing up to campaign on issues such as a strong economy and even criminal-justice reform," the report states before adding, "But just one month into the summer, it all came crashing down, with the president admitting to the American people and the press corps that he was throwing in the towel in more ways than one."
Trump has had to backtrack on his denial about wearing masks, he was forced to cancel the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville after moving it from North Carolina and he has been denied the ability to hold rallies over health concerns -- all of which has left his campaign staff wondering how to dig him out as his polling numbers go in the tank.
"Three people working on the president’s re-election effort told The Daily Beast on Friday that the reason for all of these cancellations and suspensions of Trump’s summer plans is simple: The situation with the virus, which has a U.S. body count upwards of 140,000 dead, is so dire still that even some of Trump’s most diehard advisers no longer think it wise to press on," the Beast report states. "One reason several of Trump’s top aides wanted to get him back on the trail was to help alleviate his worsening mood, as he grew increasingly impatient with month after month of being mostly holed up in the White House."
The report continues, "With his presidency imperiled by widespread voter disapproval to his response to the pandemic, the tanked U.S. economy, and protest movements in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, his senior aides and campaign officials have largely resorted to tactics specifically designed to make Trump feel better about himself."
Now, with the economy still reeling, COVID-19 infections jumping upward, schools likely not opening despite presidential promises, attacks on presumptive Democratic presidential opponent Joe Biden falling flat, sources close to the president admit his prospects don't look good.
“It’s bleak,” explained a senior White House official. “The president has done such damage to himself that a lot of us are just waiting for him to stop being handed so many of those kinds of opportunities.”
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