Donald Trump’s campaign is expecting that Vice President Kamala Harris will get a “bump” coming out of the Democratic National Convention but generally does not see the week-long event changing the overall trajectory of the race.
Democrats gathered in Chicago over the past four days for a star-studded convention that saw huge crowds, TV ratings and national celebrities at a level not seen at the Republican National Convention earlier this month. But Trump advisers continue to believe the moment will be a “sugar high” for Harris, who is now officially the Democratic nominee, as the race enters its final two months.
“They didn’t hit it out of the park. It was fine,” a Trump adviser said. “We had a good week. Pleased with where things are and are headed.”
“Still expecting a bump” for Democrats, the person continued.
Another source close to the Trump campaign described Wednesday speeches by former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as “impressive,” but said they did not believe it’s something that voters would remember.
The bigger takeaway from Trump’s team, the person said, was how reliant the program was on celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling and how “poorly managed” the speaking schedule was.
The specifically pointed to Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, taking the stage late on the third night of the convention.
“I could not believe Walz went on at 11:15” on East Coast time, the person said.
Trump’s speech last month at the Republican National Convention lasted a record-setting 93 minutes. It sent the last night of that convention into the wee hours of the morning.
Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, spent the week holding events across the country to try and counter-program the Democrats’ media coverage, including an event at the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona designed to highlight illegal immigration, an issue that is a top focus of the Trump campaign.
When President Joe Biden first took office, Harris was charged with looking into the “root cause” of illegal immigration. The role got her dubbed the “border czar,” an unofficial moniker that has repeatedly been used by Republicans.
Trump, however, watched much of the Democratic convention, according to the adviser, often taking to social media to regularly comment on convention events. After Harris’ Thursday night speech, he post ever several, often false, claims.
“Everybody, Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, and Conservative, wanted Roe v. Wade TERMINATED, and brought back to the states,” Trump said.
He later posted that if he returns to the White House it “will be great for women and their reproductive rights,” a message seemingly at odds with his earlier post and the position of many anti-abortion Republicans. He did not elaborate on why it would be “great.”
Trump also again took issue with Harris tying him to “Project 2025,” an expansive conservative plan supported by more than 100 conservative groups. The former president has tried to distance himself from the right-wing governance blueprint as Democrats continue to point out that it was cobbled together by several of Trump’s key allies.
“LYING AGAIN ABOUT PROJECT 2025, WHICH SHE KNOWS, AND SO DO ALL DEMOCRATS, THAT I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH,” Trump posted after Harris’ Thursday night speech.
After Biden decided in late July to not seek re-election — a move that came after an tough debate performance and questions about his mental acuity — Harris has performed better in most public polling, including those taken in key swing states.
In several of those places, including Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada, Harris either has slight leads or is tied with Trump, according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, a shift in the dynamic of the race from when Biden was Democrat’s presumptive nominee.
Harris’ late entrance as the Democratic nominee flipped the script for Trump and presented a much shorter timeline than is normal for the campaign. It meant any polling boost she would get from entering the race, picking a running mate, and then hosting a convention would be tougher for the Trump campaign to combat because of the more limited timeframe.
“The convention was good for them, and to some degree we expected that,” said a Trump supporter familiar with the campaign’s thinking. “But things will settle down. It was not a game changer.”
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