Inside the Three Worst Weeks of Trump’s Campaign

hey it's Michael before we get started I. want to tell you about another show made. by the New York Times that pairs. perfectly with the daily it's called the. headlines it's a show hosted by my. colleague Tracy Mumford that quickly. catches you up on the day's top stories. and features insights from the times. reporters who are covering them all in. about 10 minutes or less so if you like. the daily and if you're listening I have. to assume you do I hope that means. you're going to like the headlines as.

well you can now find the headlines. wherever you get your podcasts so find. it subscribe to it and thank you and now. here's today's. daily from The New York Times I'm. Michael babbaro this is the. [Music]. daily for much of the past year Donald. Trump and those around him were. convinced that victory in the. presidential race was all but certain.

now everything has. changed today my colleague Jonathan Swan. on Trump's rude awakening and his. struggle to. [Music]. adjust it's Monday August. 12th Jonathan welcome back thanks for. having me back so the last time we spoke. was at the Republican National.

Convention last night the New York Times. Bureau there was literally being. deconstructed during our interview and. to say that a lot has changed for Donald. Trump since that moment feels like an. understatement of the highest possible. order when you talk to Trump's AIDS the. convention in Milwaukee seems like a. distant foggy memory almost like it. never happened like I think back to that.

first night at the convention when Trump. remember he'd just been shot right two. days before President Trump please. welcome the next president of the United. States Donald J. Trump and he comes into that Arena first. night and he's got the big white bandage. on his ear and he's a living. Marty he is here tonight to show his. courage he Defiance against somebody who.

tried to kill him you will not take this. man down he has the courage. to and I just remember that whole week. there was a giddiness and a. overconfidence that was just pulsating. through the. [Music]. place like remember Biden was still the. candidate and there was just a certainty. I don't think I even spoke to a single.

Republican there who really gave Biden. any chance of winning the election Trump. is going to win if the election was. today he was going to win if the. election was tomorrow two months from. now he's going to win and he's going to. win in November he's going to. win the only question the only suspense. the only mystery was how big is Donald. Trump's Victory going to. be and then. overnight when Biden drops out Donald.

Trump's in a whole new race the race. that him and his team had prepared for. built their whole operation around you. know spent a year and a half thinking. about planning for spent tens of. millions of dollars on all of that is. gone right and that's really what we. want to talk to you about Trump's. Behavior how he has campaigned since. everything changed and what that tells. us about how he is adjusting or not. adjusting to the realities of this new.

race the sense I've gotten from talking. to a lot of Trump's advisers and allies. is that he was genuinely blindsided by. this and I mean he has been in a foul. mood for much of the last 3 weeks he has. been complaining about the. unfairness of what has happened to him. unfair how. well I'll give you an example so he he. has been telling people that Democrats.

are trying to quote unquote steal the. election from him and he's comparing it. to 2020 and Co wow what he's saying is. he's saying you know how they changed. the voting rules you know all these. different state legislatures you know in. the middle of Co which is his whole part. of his false claim about the election. being stolen well here he's saying we. had this race won and then they pulled. this bait and switch and they replac the. candidate so in his mind Harris. replacing Biden which of course.

Democrats thought was overdue and. necessary is a kind of pre- stealing of. the election exactly and it's. bewildering for Trump because the race. that he thought he had no longer. exists he's facing someone who's 20. years younger who doesn't have trouble. completing. sentences who actually has energized. Democrats who's drawing big crowds who's. moving up in the polls and all of these.

factors are making him extremely. frustrated MH less than 100 days out. from the election and you can see this. projection in his public statements and. Truth social comments he's been like it. looked like sort of this exercise in. wishful thinking on Truth social where. he's saying I'm hearing Biden's really. angry and wants to get you know regrets. dropping out and maybe he gets back in. you know and sort of like that's. actually the way Trump feels I know I. know that's what you want but that.

that's not really what's happening and. so you're seeing this sort of trump kind. of publicly emoting for poor Joe Biden. and how mistreated he was but really. it's just a projection it's the race. Trump wants again right and he can't. have it and he's still sort of pining. for that race that no longer exists okay. so those are the inward pains and. frustrations that you have been picking. up on in your reporting let's talk about. how they are manifesting.

out in public on the campaign Trail well. coming out of the convention Trump was. constricted partly by Design the Secret. Service were grappling with this this. huge mistake of allowing him to be. almost assassinated so there's this. really big increase in his security you. know they don't want him doing events. Outdoors which he loves doing he feeds. off these open air events even his. golfing is constricted so he's feeling.

cooped up but there's also just this I. don't know what the right word is I I I. guess sort of cement footed aspect to. his campaign at this point suddenly he's. not out there doing much he's not. dominating media and the person who has. seized command of the moment who is on. every television screen who is the fresh. thing that everyone is paying attention. to and talking about is not him yeah is.

his new opponent Kamala Harris right so. we're sort of waiting to see what is the. Trump plan to take on Harris you know. you can see him fumbling around for a. nickname for her you know he he sort of. Cycles through first he calls her. laughing Kamala to try and make fun of. her laugh and then according to his. advisor he he decides that's that one. doesn't work so then he goes back to. Crooked you know he used that for. Hillary Clinton he used that for Joe. Biden then he decides he doesn't really.

like that then he tries out crazy and. then he has this event which could have. actually been a real opportunity for him. which was he decides to go to Chicago on. stage for the National Association of. black journalists conference right and. as we know Trump has been trying to eat. into Democrats African-American support. So this could have been a moment. potentially for him to reset and and. take control of the race again and it.

felt especially bold because he was. going to speak to a largely black. audience of journalists at precisely the. moment that the Democratic party had. decided a black woman would be the. party's nominee so there seemed to be. kind of a strategic wisdom to it yes. that's what it looked like anyway but. then Trump opened his mouth some of your. own supporters have labeled vice. president kamla Harris as a Dei hire is. that acceptable language to you and will. you Trum gets asked very sharp question.

by the ABC reporter Rachel Scott how do. you define diversity Equity inclusion. okay yeah go ahead is that what your. definition give me that is that is Give. me a definition then would you give me a. definition and Trump takes great offense. at the question so he starts off on this. very angry and aggressive footing sir do. you believe that vice president KLA. Harris is only on the ticket because she. is a black woman and then he decides to. question whether the first black woman.

vice president is actually black she was. always of Indian Heritage and she was. only promoting Indian Heritage I didn't. know she was black until a number of. years ago when she happened to turn. black and now she wants to be known as. black so I don't know is she Indian or. is she black he says. absurdly that she only recently decided. to embrace her black identity for. political purposes when of course her. father is Jamaican American she went to. a historically black college I mean it's.

it's not even really worth engaging with. it's so outlandish but he basically. programs the chirons on every broadcast. news program around the country you know. that is the story that comes out of this. is Donald Trump questioning kamla. Harris's race it's not you know his team. is desperate to focus on policy attacks. you know her being this dangerously. liberal candidate but watch the story. that comes out of it it's Donald Trump. question questioning her race right so.

even Republicans end up wincing at this. thinking like of all the things you. could do why do this which makes you. sound racist and also just with somebody. not having their eye on the ball yeah. and then he goes off to Georgia for a. rally so just think about this for a. second so Georgia is a state with. roughly 30% of the voting electorate is. black okay right it's a state that Trump. needs to win their clearest path to. Victory involves Georgia MH so you need. to appeal to Black voters what have you.

done you've just questioned whether Comm. Harr is actually black then you go to. Georgia you go to the rally and Trump. decides to bring up again this old Feud. that he has with Georgia's governor. Brian Kemp your Governor Kemp and rafb. are doing everything possible to make. 2024 difficult for Republicans to win. Brian Kemp is very popular much more. popular than Trump is in Georgia and. Trump attacks. and his wife but think of the wife she.

said two weeks ago I will not endorse. him because he has an earned my I. haven't earned her endorsement I have. nothing to do with her so like if you. were trying to figure out how do I give. myself the best chance of losing Georgia. you might question the race of KLA. Harris attack the popular Republican. governor oh and then by the way just a a. little bit of a cherry on top to alien a. few more Suburban women attack his wife.

as well so when when I talk to Trump. allies and advisers many of them view. the last three weeks as Trump's worst. sustained performance in a very long. time and of course this is not just any. moment in which to have Trump spiral. this is the moment that he most needs to. figure out what he's up to because the. Democrats have made this extraordinary. candidate switch that very much seem. seems to be working while he's just kind.

of fumbling around and as you're saying. basically shooting himself in both feet. that's right and and Trump takes another. shot at the recess well thank you very. much appreciate your being here he has a. press conference at marago Major news. outlets are there because his team is. doing briefings with reporters I was. there and the press conference goes on. for about an hour and this is not. mission accomplished to say the least. the biggest crowd I've ever spoken I've.

spoken to the biggest crowds no he. boasts about his crowd size on January. 6th if you look at Mar Luther King when. he uh did his speech his great speech. and you look at ours same real estate. same everything same number of people if. not we had more claims falsely that it. was bigger than Martin Luther King's. crowd when he gave his famous I Have a. Dream speech wow so I think the abortion. issue is written very much tampered down.

and I've answered I think very well in. the debate and it seems to be much less. of an issue especially for those. equivocated and seem to be sort of. frankly confused when asked about. abortion policy like Ronald reag and I. believe in the exceptions for rape. incest and life of the mother uh I. believe you know I believe strongly I. think that uh that's a very important. thing I think when you don't you have to. follow your heart. [Music]. so you know what was supposed to be a.

reset after a very tough period actually. just extended the very tough. period and you know there's not much. time left we're in the final 90 days of. the campaign so it's crunch. [Music]. time we'll be right. back so Jonathan how anxious are the. people around Donald Trump by the. experience of these past two weeks which.

they clearly think have been a bit of a. mess and are they convinced that Trump. can write this ship and kind of Meet the. moment of KLA Harris and her. Ascent well they're in a real race now. and the Dynamics have shifted to the. extent that Democrats were not excited. or motivated to vote for Joe Biden and. they are excited and motivated to vote.

for kamla Harris there's a different. vibe as they would say but in the minds. of the Trump campaign the fundamentals. of the race haven't actually changed. just explain that well yes there are all. of these indicators that are concerning. to them I'm not minimizing that but they. still have a very clear path to Victory. and in fact it's a much clearer path. than KLA Harris has at this moment they. need to win Georgia Trump has been.

consistently leading in Georgia they. need to hold on to North Carolina he has. been consistently leading in North. Carolina outside the margin of era and. they have to win Pennsylvania which is. closer so the path is there there are. actually many other paths that he could. win other different combinations of. States but the basic way that the Trump. people see it is that kamla Harris is. simply winning back people that. democrats should have had in the first. place mhm and it's not like the mood of. the country has changed it is still a.

country that is still very very sour. about the economy anxious about high. prices worried about the border and. immigration these are all issues in. which Donald Trump holds huge advantages. over kamla Harris and Democrats and when. you talk to the Trump people you know as. I do every day they have they have a. very narrow as they would say universe.

of the electorate that they're focusing. on that they call Target persuadables. these are voters who they believe are up. for grabs it's about 11% of the. electorate they are disproportionately. male under 50. non-white independent moderate actually. in ideology and even though you have an. electorate that is overall very sour. about the economy this group is even. more sour these are not people who are. following who are reading newspapers.

reading digital news sites following. cable news they are consuming. non-traditional media you know streamers. gaming etc etc and that's why you see. the Trump campaign doing so much of this. non-traditional media to to meet these. lowi information voters where they are. so the Trump team is betting that all of. this Harris boom is a honeymoon it's. cotton candy but they still believe that.

the fundamental issues that are going to. decide this election are issues in which. they can not just beat Harris on but. absolutely destroy her on so in the eyes. of the Trump people just to put this all. together it might look like this race. has changed a lot because there's so. much energy around kamla Harris because. there's so much media attention around. kamla Harris but the fundamentals of the. race the electoral college math and the. reality of who's actually getable those. haven't changed and the Trump people are.

confident that their plan is the more. sophisticated one for actually pulling. it off I wouldn't say it hasn't changed. it they acknowledge it's a tighter race. but they are betting that hammering. those messages in the key States for and. I can't emphasize this enough a very. narrow small Slither of Voters that are. up for grabs will carry the day so let's. talk about their plan not just to Define. an issue set that they think will win. this election for them but their plan to.

Define Harris herself because so far as. we established in the first half of this. conversation Trump hasn't quite seemed. to settle on a path or a message for. confronting Harris well I think that's. an understatement one of the challenges. when you talk to Trump advisors is that. they need to narrow their focus they. have so much tape of KLA Harris saying. all sorts of things that are unpopular. and very very liberal and out of step.

with moderate Centrist voters that they. actually need to go through a culling. exercise and make sure that they're not. just throwing everything at the wall and. in the end nothing will stick voters. will sort of tune it out they've done. this exhaustive message testing Trump's. top poster Tony Fabrizio has tested you. know dozens and dozens of messages. against Harris to see which ones. resonate the most the ones that they're. going to just Hammer her again and again.

and again on our immigration Joe Biden. appointed her to deal with the root. causes of migration they're going to. talk about aspects of her record as a. prosecutor in San Francisco to portray. her as soft on crime and they're going. to tie her to the Biden economy which. while on many indicators is doing well. voters aren't feeling it and aren't. saying that so that's what they're going. to focus on but beyond policy they're. also trying to attack her personally in.

a few key ways like what so the two that. that they doing with her personally is. defining her as someone who is not. presidential who's not strong who is. unserious there's a video they have. internally they call it the word salad. video we've been to the Border you. haven't been to the Border I and I. haven't been to Europe and I mean I. don't I don't understand the point it's. clips of Kala Paris you know she goes on.

these sort of very unusual verbal. excursions it is time for us to do what. we have been doing and that time is. every. day every day it is time she sort of. repeats lines and says things that sound. like a at times a mangled self-help book. I can imagine what can be and be. unburdened by what has been you know. there's one where she talks about. talking about the significance of the. passage of time right the sign the. significance of the passage of time so.

when you think about it there is great. significance to the passage of time. they're trying to paint her as. fundamentally unserious not ready to be. commander and. chief right they're basically going to. start mocking her in compilations of. videos that are intended to take the. worst possible moments put them all. together and hope that it somehow. undermines her credibility exactly the. other thing that they're doing that. specific to her is they're trying to.

portray her as a fraud as a fake as. someone who reinvents herself for. political expedience every few years and. you know there's a bit of material to. work with there in 2019 when she was. running for president she basically. co-signed every hard-left position. whether it be a ban on fracking. abolishing Private health insurance. abolishing ice giving free health to. undocumented immigrants you know it's a.

very long list she's basically running. away from that record now but they're. going to try and portray her as someone. who you know doesn't actually stand for. anything and and flip-flops right I mean. in a very simple sense it seems like. they're going to try to make this. campaign about her now in the same way. that for the past two weeks since she. became the nominee she's been trying to. make this campaign about Trump her stump. speech reliably has its loudest Applause. line when she gets to the idea that she. knows Trump's type and it seems like.

their plan is to kind of invert that and. say we're now going to tell you what. type of person Kam Harris is and in. their estimation she's ideologically. inconsistent and unserious yeah and one. thing that they desperately trying to do. is smoke her out their view in the Trump. campaign is that Kamala Harris is good. in scripted settings they're very. frustrated she's she's having these very. successful rallies uh giving uh.

rehearsed stump speech it's all very. well produced and Polished but she has. not been giving interviews she has not. been uh submitting herself to tough. questioning they want to get her into. these unscripted settings where they. think she's very bad on her feet I hear. that again and again when I talk to. Trump advisors she can't think on her. feet that's what they think they're. trying to force her to take questions. from journalists to bully her into that. to get her on the debate stage where. they think that she will Wilt Under.

Pressure they want to create new moments. that I guess sound a bit like the videos. they have in their offices that word. salad that will become embarrassing in. real time exactly and what do they think. those moments will look like how are. they going to smoke her out well he's. challenged her to three debates and. notably two of them are on networks he. hates ABC and NBC so so that shows you.

how eager Trump is to get her on that. debate stage and perhaps he of course. thinks that what happen to Biden will. happen to Harris on a debate stage in. other words it will be an indelible. moment that could change the course of. the race exactly one thing I I can't. underscore enough is just how much. contempt Trump has for Harris he. actually respected Hillary Clinton's. intellect as much as he despised her he.

thought she was smart he does not think. kamla Harris is smart and in fact he's. been counseled by some advisers to try. not to show as much of that contempt. publicly so he does think he's up. against someone who is incompetent and. is not going to perform well in a debate. against him it could be a big. miscalculation but that's how Trump sees. it and that's how a number of his allies. and advisers see it mhm it feels like. the Trump campaign stry to meet this. moment rests on not just the first.

assumption which is that Harris if and. when smoked out will falter but that. Trump himself will be capable of being. the kind of disciplined candidate who. can deliver the policy messages you're. talking about on crime immigration and. the economy and not keep doing what he. did at nabj and talking about whether. she's actually black or as you just said. demonstrating open contempt for her.

intelligence those are the biggest X. factors and the biggest one of the two. of them is Trump so far he has been. struggling to adapt to her as a new. candidate it has brought out some of his. harshest instincts and we don't know yet. whether he's going to be able to. sufficiently control himself not to turn. off the voters that he needs to win this. election mhm there was this sort of. amazing moment two days after the ass of. black journalist event you know the news.

cycle has gone crazy about Trump. questioning whether she's black Trump. goes to the Hamptons and he's at this. very high-powered donor dinner these are. some of the wealthiest donors in. Republican politics and one of the. donors asks this question that in in any. normal time it would have just been this. completely you know benign forgettable. question which was basically what issues. should you be talking about you know but. of course this was a question that was. sort of imbued with great meaning and.

relevance because he'd just been on this. race basting spree and Trump says direct. quote I am who I. am which you know not exactly. reassuring at the same event he said. that he thought he was right to bring up. the question whether she was really. black he said that you know we have to. stop the Steal You Know Rel litigating. his false claims about the 2020 election. which his advises a A desperate that he. would stop talking about so you know.

this is a 78-year old man who is not. changing so they're going to have to do. the best they can with the candidate. they've got right I mean the real risk. for Trump is that he sabotages himself. which has always been a risk with Trump. but it's especially a risk it would seem. in the final weeks of a campaign that he. thought he was on a Glide path to. victory in when it was against Joe Biden. and now despite everything that's. happened he's basically saying as a.

candidate as a person I won't change I. don't think I need to change exactly and. in fact if there was ever a moment when. Republicans were sort of saying you know. oh I think maybe he's a changed man was. after the assassination attempt he's now. saying to people if anything I'm more. Angry the Press wants to say I got nicer. after that no he's he's saying that out. loud no in fact not. [Music]. if that doesn't change you I'm not sure.

what does right apparently not a new. arrival either not so. [Music]. far well Jonathan thank you very much we. appreciate it thank. [Music]. you we'll be right back.

here's what else you need to n day over. the weekend Trump's political troubles. continued his campaign said it had been. the victim of a hacking operation. allegedly linked to Iran that resulted. in the theft of sensitive internal. documents including research on Trump's. running mate Senator JD Vance some of. those documents have since been shared. with news organizations including.

Politico and the Washington Post in what. appears to be an effort to embarrass. Trump's. [Music]. campaign and no time outs here it's. Williams that was a two bed it in a two. bow and the United States is going to. claim gold for the eighth consecutive. Olympics what a finish Williams with her. foot on the line. on the final day of the 2024 Olympic.

Summer Games the US Women's Basketball. team defeated France by a single point. allowing the United States to tie China. for the most gold medals 40 in. all a few hours. later the games ended in Paris with an. elaborate closing ceremony broadcast by. NBC from the same stadium where the. games began. 2 weeks. [Music].

ago today's episode was produced by Rob. zipco CLA tennis Scutter Diana win and. Luke Vander plug it was edited by. Patricia willins with help from Devin. Taylor contains original music by Marian. Lozano and will Reed and was engineered. by Alyssa Moxley our theme music is by. Jim runberg and Ben Lanser of wonderly.

that's it for the daily I'm Michael Boro. see you tomorrow. [Music].