Kamala Harris

With Donald Trump's third run for the presidency faltering as election day nears, political observers looking at his need to bring independent voters into his camp claim he is doing himself no favors this week.

Still reeling from a disastrous debate performance on Tuesday when he faced off for the first time with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump has subsequently been closely linked to far-right gadfly Laura Loomer who has been traveling with him and raising some eyebrows about their relationship.

In interviews with Newsweek, two political scientists made the case that Trump is making a huge mistake by not disavowing her before it is too late.

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According to Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey, "The fact that the media is awash with speculation on the nature of Trump's relationship with Loomer should be a worry to him, but, as so often, doesn't seem to have registered with 45 as something that might impact his campaign."

Shanahan added, "Loomer is regarded as a dangerous conspiracist, and to be allied with her in any way will damage Trump's standing with the undecided voters he needs on his side if he is to prevail in November. He doesn't need sideshows now, and being seen at key events with Loomer players squarely into Harris' assertion that Trump is an 'unserious man.'"

Thomas Gift, of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London concurred by adding, "Trump's association with Laura Loomer isn't doing him any favors. When even Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks you're too extreme, you know you've got problems. Trump has been linked to some less-than-upstanding characters in the past, including white supremacists and conspiracy theorists. But even by his standards, his connections to Loomer are troubling."

"Still, the overwhelming majority of Americans have never heard the name 'Laura Loomer,' and those who have are mostly extremely online adults who already know who they're voting for.," he then conceded.

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Donald Trump's constant "ping-ponging" on issues at his rallies, during speeches and at his recent debate with Vice President Kamala Harris is frustrating GOP strategists as the November election looms.

Case in point, as Politico is reporting, the former president had an opportunity to put Harris on the spot on energy issues on Tuesday, but failed to score points because he is engaging in "meme level" campaigning that is not scoring points.

As Politico's Ben Lefebvre and Zack Colman are reporting, "Trump has spent weeks rollicking from message to message on energy, false and otherwise," adding that "his flurry of messages took time away from what should have been his main focus on energy."

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According to exasperated Republican campaign strategist David Kochel, “It’s almost incoherent. In the debate, he was clearly flustered. It’s very difficult for him to actually prosecute a single strategy. He was just all over the place.”

Ryan Bernstein, a public affairs strategist at McGuireWoods Consulting, agreed.

“Trump hasn’t been able to clearly articulate his position or her positions and, really, she’s been able to kind of define herself,” he admitted. “She probably covered what she needed to cover in Pennsylvania. He kind of glossed over her inconsistencies and cobbled together all of these other issues in one package, which didn’t really hit home.”

Politico is reporting, "For all Trump’s talking points on fossil fuels, his lack of even one message on climate change may have hurt him among some of his past supporters," adding, "During the debate, Trump didn’t respond to a question on how he would battle climate change, which is driven in large part by burning the same oil, gas and coal he wants to double down on producing. Instead, he talked about factories moving out of the United States and Hunter Biden’s legal travails."

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