Former Insider Says Trump’s New Strategy Will End in Disaster

A former aide to Donald Trump doesn’t predict good things coming out of his campaign’s latest strategy.

In an effort to keep the Republican presidential nominee from making more childish ad hominem attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris and her crowd sizes, the Trump campaign has reportedly discussed holding smaller “messaging events.” Those will replace his boisterous, multi-hour rallies, which he won’t resume until after the Democratic National Convention, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told CNBC.

But although the intention of the micro events is to keep Trump focused on the issues that actually matter to voters, former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham believes that the events will be short-lived as the campaign discovers Trump doesn’t thrive in smaller crowds.

“I imagine he will do some of them, and maybe for a week he’ll, you know, attempt to stay on message,” Grisham said on a CNN panel Tuesday. “It depends on how tough his staff is being with him, but he will get bored. He doesn’t like those small events; he never has. And he will be demanding to do a large rally sooner rather than later.

“They want him to be a fake version of himself,” she added. “Donald Trump is a bombastic narcissist, and he loves attention.”

Conservatives have been less than enthused about Trump’s performance in recent weeks, as the typically bombastic populist had floundered to find an appropriate political response to Harris’s nomination outside of mocking her race, her personality, or her intelligence. Even some of Trump’s most ardent supporters have abandoned ship. Last week, notorious white supremacist Nick Fuentes announced a “groyper war” on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, believing that Trump’s current campaign staff are setting the party up for a “catastrophic loss.”

Gun rights activist and charged Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooter Kyle Rittenhouse publicly withdrew his support from Trump earlier this month, announcing in a video statement that he felt Trump wasn’t a true champion of the Second Amendment and that he intended to write in former Representative Ron Paul. (Though less than 12 hours after making the post, Rittenhouse was approached by Trump’s team and subsequently changed his tune.) And users on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, got the hashtag “#TrumpIsACoward” trending after the Republican nominee backed out of a prearranged September 10 debate with Harris on ABC News. (Trump has since agreed, again, to the debate.)

But despite Trump’s inability to adapt and change to the new race, Grisham doesn’t believe he’ll be able to keep up the mini rallies—even if they’re for the good of his campaign.

“Look, we did this a million times,” Grisham told CNN. “We did it in 2016. We did it throughout our time in the White House. We were all trying to keep him on message. Everybody was frustrated all the time.”

Donald Trump attempted to blame Kamala Harris for inflation in the wake of a new economics report, but its findings actually showed a crucial decrease in inflation.

A new report published Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that in July, year-over-year inflation dropped to 2.9 percent—marking the first time that inflation has slipped below 3 percent since March 2021. The report makes way for the Federal Reserve to cut rates in September.

However, consumer prices rose: The price of food increased by 0.2 percent in July, according to the report. The data was still in line with a significant slowdown in the rising price of food, which actually went down in June. Shelter was an outlier, with the price of rent increasing by 0.5 percent.

The report represented a huge win for Democrats, who have been consistently slammed by Republicans over inflation, and the price of groceries. A recent Cato Institute poll found that a whopping 40 percent of American voters surveyed listed inflation/prices as one of their top three issues in the upcoming presidential election—placing it above any other issue in terms of voter priorities.

In light of the good news for Democrats, Trump’s campaign attempted to reframe the conversation around high prices but incidentally cited “Kamalanomics” as the cause for what is ultimately an improved economic situation.

“Under Kamala Harris, everything costs 20 percent more than it did under President Trump,” said Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in a press release about the Labor report.

“America cannot afford another four years of Kamala’s failed economic policies,” Leavitt said, citing increases in the price of baby food and the price of gas.

Meanwhile, a new survey conducted by the Financial Times found that Harris had blunted Trump’s edge on the question of who voters trusted to handle the economy.

Donald Trump was just denied again in his hush-money trial, and predictably, he’s not happy about it.

Trump requested for a third time that Judge Juan Merchan step aside in the trial, claiming that Merchan has a conflict of interest due to his daughter’s political consultancy work, and Merchan declined yet again.

“Defendant has provided nothing new for this Court to consider. Counsel has merely repeated arguments that have already been denied by this and higher courts” and were “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims,” Merchan wrote in a decision posted Wednesday. Merchan also denied similar requests from Trump’s legal team in April and August 2023.

The former president and convicted felon immediately went to Truth Social to complain.

“Judge Merchan just ruled that I, the Republican candidate for President, and leading in the Polls, am still under a Gag Order CONCERNING VERY IMPORTANT THINGS WHICH MUST BE BROUGHT TO LIGHT. I AM NOT ALLOWED TO ANSWER REPORTERS QUESTIONS. Can you believe this?” Trump posted, seemingly complaining that his partial gag order remains in place.

“The New York Courts refuse to act. This is happening right before the voting begins on September 6th. Suppression and manipulation of the vote. Voter interference. This is the real Fascist ‘stuff,’ the old Soviet Union! So much to say, and I’m not allowed to say it. Must get U.S. Supreme Court involved. New York is trying to steal the Election!” The post continued.

In May, Trump was found guilty in his hush-money trial on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records with the intent to further an underlying crime. His sentencing was originally scheduled for July 11, but that was delayed to September 18 thanks to the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling. To the high court’s credit, earlier this month, they rejected an attempt to delay Trump’s sentencing, paving the way for Trump to maybe face accountability.

Minnesota Senate candidate Royce White won the state’s Republican primary on Tuesday, defeating Navy veteran Joe Fraser and setting White up to run against Senator Amy Klobuchar in November.

But White, a former NBA player who had been an outspoken advocate for mental health in sports, has cultivated some disturbing positions since befriending Steve Bannon in 2021. Those include becoming an ardent Trump supporter with an affinity for antisemitic, misogynistic, and homophobic conspiracies—all of which will only make it that much more difficult for him to unseat the incumbent Democrat, who has maintained the seat since 2007.

After dozens of appearances on Bannon’s show War Room (which a February study crowned as the chief spreader of misinformation among political podcasts), White turned his attention toward women, arguing in May that “women have become too mouthy.”

Minutes later, White claimed that women’s schedules were “too busy,” while elevating a conspiracy that there was an “economic incentive” to the inception of World War II insofar as it related to introducing women to the workplace.

The conservative populist has also been caught cooking up his own misinformation. In June, White shared a map of Minneapolis awash in green, yellow, and red dots, claiming that each data point symbolized crime in the City of Lakes. But a quick fact-check by a reporter for the Minnesota Reformer showed that the map didn’t depict any lawlessness, but rather the distribution of drinking fountains across the city’s public parks.

That same month, a nonpartisan nonprofit filed a complaint against White for allegedly illegally spending tens of thousands of dollars from his failed 2022 congressional campaign on luxury dinners, vacations, and other eyebrow-raising expenses, including a $1,200 night at a Miami strip club.

But White’s character doesn’t look any better beyond his political stunts to appeal to fringe, reactionary voters. In response to an NBC News report on ignoring his child support obligations, White claimed that “liberals really just want to shame people with kids” because they’re “anti-human as fuck.” But financial statements obtained by The Daily Beast from the mother of one of White’s children indicated that the wannabe MAGA politician owed her at least $100,000 in “child support payments for a daughter with whom he is barely involved.”

“Thank God I don’t rely on his support or it would be impossible,” the woman told The Daily Beast.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz handily shredded right-wing attacks over his military record.

Speaking to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union convention in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Walz addressed the right-wing smears, such as those from J.D. Vance, who falsely accused Walz of ending his 24-year term in the Army to avoid being deployed to Iraq. Walz actually retired before his unit was alerted it would be deployed, so he could run for office.

Vance, who served a single four-year enlistment in the public affairs section of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, and who, according to his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, was “lucky to escape any real fighting,” has accused Walz of “stolen valor.”

But Walz didn’t buy into the blatant swiftboating.

“And by the way, these guys are even attacking me for my record of service, and I just wanna say, I’m proud to have served my country, and I always will be,” Walz said to massive applause.

Walz explained that he enlisted in the National Guard shortly after turning 17. When he was elected to Congress, he served on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, where Walz said he was a “champion for our men and women in uniform.”

“I’m going to say it again, as clearly as I can: I am damn proud of my service to this country. And I firmly believe that you should never denigrate another person’s service record. Anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country—including my opponent—I just have a few simple words: Thank you for your service and sacrifice,” he said.

Harris’s campaign acknowledged Saturday that Walz had misspoken during a 2018 rally when he claimed to have handled assault weapons “in war.” The campaign had posted a video of this remark, launching a barrage of attacks against Walz, who had never been deployed in a war zone.

Walz has been falsely accused of leaving his unit to run for office only after he was alerted that the team would soon deploy to Iraq. Walz filed to run for Congress in February 2005, long before his unit was notified it could deploy to Iraq, according to CNN. According to the Minnesota National Guard, Walz retired from service in May 2005.

Vance responded to Walz’s Tuesday remarks in a post on X. “Hi Tim, I thank you for your service. But you shouldn’t have lied about it. You shouldn’t have said you went to war when you didn’t,” Vance wrote. “Nor should you have said that you didn’t know your unit was going to Iraq.”

“Happy to discuss more in a debate,” wrote Vance, who absolutely lost it last week when a CNN anchor claimed Vance was wrong to make a meal of his own service record.

During his interview with Elon Musk Monday night, Donald Trump praised the tech CEO for firing organizing workers, drawing the ire of labor unions and those who care about workers’ rights.

It also reflected poorly on Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who became the first union leader to speak at the Republican National Convention last month.

“Firing workers for organizing, striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism,” O’Brien said in a statement Tuesday to Politico’s Playbook.

In his conversation with Musk, Trump laughed at Musk’s union-busting practices. “I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk. “You walk in and you just say, ‘You wanna quit?’ They go on strike—I won’t mention the name of the company—but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s OK. You’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.’”

The Teamsters are one of the only major unions that have not yet endorsed Kamala Harris for president, a surprising stance considering historic Democratic support for labor unions. Pressure is building against O’Brien from within the union’s rank-and-file members, as the Teamsters National Black Caucus voted unanimously to endorse Harris on Tuesday.

In a statement, the caucus said that Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have an “unwavering commitment to workers and their families.”

“Their records reflect a deep dedication to advancing labor rights and supporting working-class Americans,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers has not only endorsed Harris, but also filed federal labor charges against Musk and Trump for “illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes.”

O’Brien has said that the union will endorse a presidential candidate after the Democratic National Convention, and has invited all of the candidates for interviews. Harris was invited last month, but has not yet had an interview with the Teamsters. O’Brien said on Tuesday that he had not received an invitation to speak at the Democratic National Convention.

Donald Trump appears to be losing the support of the one demographic that has reliably backed him, and is essential to winning the White House: white voters without a college degree.

CNN’s senior data reporter Harry Enten appeared on Out Front with Erin Burnett Tuesday to discuss what a recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed about Trump’s “core group” of white working class voters—the very same people who helped him break down the blue wall in 2016.

While the poll found that Trump still led among white voters without a college degree, his favorability appeared to have taken a massive hit in light of his new match-up against Vice President Kamala Harris.

In May, Trump was leading President Joe Biden among white voters without a college degree in the swing states Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania by a whopping 25 points. This latest poll shows that Trump’s lead has been nearly cut in half: in August, Trump only leads Harris by 14 points with this demographic in those swing states.

Harris’s apparent surge in support comes just as the vice president has managed to pretty much erase Trump’s edge on the economy, according to a new survey the Financial Times published last week, signaling a crucial shift in momentum for the Democratic candidate. Enten explained that Harris was doing slightly better among those voters, in those key states, than even Biden had in 2020.

“Those are the types of numbers that Kamala Harris needs to put up in order to win. And of course, Joe Biden was like, ‘I don’t want to drop out of the race, because I’m not sure that Kamala Harris can break into the group,’ but it turns out she absolutely can,” Enten said.

“The margin is shrinking, and elections are all about margins,” Enten continued. He explained that these numbers were significant more broadly as well, because non-college educated white voters make up 50 percent of the electorate in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Trump’s advisers previously revealed that the former president tapped J.D. Vance as his running mate to pick up white working class votes. The campaign needed “a white guy to get the white guys we lost,” MAGA political operative Vish Burra told The Bulwark. If this recent polling is any indication, it seems the campaign’s play has yet to pay off.

Donald Trump’s lengthy interview with Elon Musk earlier this week may have violated federal campaign regulations, at least according to one Democratic-aligned political action committee that has already filed an FEC complaint over the issue.

The complaint, filed Tuesday by End Citizens United, argued that the unfettered “conversation” on X, Musk’s $12.5 billion company, amounted to a “virtual campaign event” financed by the social media platform. Per the FEC’s website, a contribution is “anything of value given, loaned or advanced to influence a federal election.”

End Citizens United also claimed that the event did not fall under press exemptions set forth by the election commission on the basis that X is not a traditional news outlet; that the company devoted “considerable resources” to host the interview, including dedicating “real time staff” to fix numerous technical glitches; and (perhaps most significantly) that Musk has repeatedly voiced his support for Trump in the 2024 race, and launched the talk with the intention to platform Trump’s personal beliefs.

“Because X spent considerable resources to host an event to expressly advocate for Trump and was not entitled to the press exemption for that event, Respondents have violated the ban on giving and receiving corporation contributions,” the complaint alleged.

The group called for the FEC to “immediately investigate” the violations and to take “appropriate remedial action” against the “brazen corporate contribution.”

Unfortunately for End Citizens United, such high-profile complaints can take months or even years for the ideologically gridlocked six-commissioner panel at the FEC to investigate, making it highly unlikely for the group to reach a consensus before the November election.

“The Donald Trump-Elon Musk campaign rally hosted on X wasn’t just an incoherent diatribe of lies marred by technical difficulties—it was a blatantly illegal corporate contribution to Donald Trump’s campaign,” said End Citizens United president Tiffany Muller in a statement. “This brazen corporate contribution undermines campaign finance laws and would set a dangerous precedent for unfettered, direct corporate engagement in campaigns.”

Donald Trump’s livestream interview with Elon Musk on X Monday night was plagued not only with technical glitches but also Trump’s own slurred speech. Late Tuesday night, Trump finally came up with an excuse.

“My conversation with Elon last night was heard by a RECORD audience, and was really something special, as Elon himself is very special—and I thank him for such a strong Endorsement!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Unfortunately, because of the complexity of modern day equipment, and cellphone technology, my voice was, in certain areas, somewhat different and strange. Therefore, we have put out an actual, and perfect, recording of the conversation. ENJOY!!!”

The post followed another late-night post, made an hour before, where Trump went on the offensive against Kamala Harris.

“Kamala: You ruined San Francisco, one of the greatest cities in the World, you ruined California, one of the greatest places on Earth—And you will turn America into a giant combination of both,” Trump’s post read. “We are not going to let that happen. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump’s excuse probably won’t be bought by anyone but the right. The Harris campaign has already seized upon his glitches, as well as Trump’s extremist rhetoric from the interview. The Trump campaign is trying to claim that one billion people watched the livestream, but that’s not going to get much traction either. The likeliest explanation for Trump’s slurring words may be his cognitive decline, which is all the more noticeable now that he’s the oldest candidate in the race.

Elon Musk’s judge-shopping attempt to get back at advertisers has failed.

The CEO of X (formerly Twitter) is trying to sue a coalition of advertisers who he claims conspired against the social networking site by refusing to buy advertisements. Reed O’Connor, a federal judge in the northern district of Texas, recused himself from the lawsuit Tuesday after NPR reported that he owns stock in Tesla, another one of Musk’s companies.

Last week, Musk sued the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a group of advertisers, media agencies, and platforms that focus on safety in media and technology. The lawsuit also targets the parent organization of GARM, the World Federation of Advertisers, and four of its member companies: Orsted, Unilever, CVS Health, and Mars.

Musk appears to have chosen the northern district because it is a favorite of conservatives, as almost all of its judges have been appointed by Republicans, even though the case has little, if anything, to do with Texas. O’Connor has a reputation for giving the right the rulings they are looking for. For example, he has repeatedly tried to gut or eliminate the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, even going after HIV drugs and cancer screenings. 

NPR’s report found that O’Connor owns between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of Tesla stock, which gives the appearance of a conflict of interest and ultimately seems to have led to O’Connor’s recusal. But while that will delay the advertiser lawsuit, O’Connor is still presiding over a different Musk lawsuit against Media Matters, filed in November, accusing the liberal media watchdog of defaming X by pointing out the rise in hate speech on the site.

The Media Matters lawsuit is still ongoing and still has the right-wing judge presiding over it. Even with O’Connor’s recusal from the advertiser lawsuit, Musk had a small measure of success as GARM announced last week that it would be disbanding, claiming that it didn’t have the financial resources to fight billionaire Musk. The question is how much more money Musk is willing to spend to punish perceived slights.