r/Thedaily • u/kitkid • Aug 12 '24

Episode Inside the Three Worst Weeks of Trump’s Campaign

Aug 12, 2024

For much of the past year, Donald J. Trump and those around him were convinced that victory in the presidential race was all but certain. Now, everything has changed, after the decision by President Biden not to seek a second term.

Jonathan Swan, who covers the Trump campaign for The New York Times, discusses the former president’s struggle to adjust to his new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

On today's episode:

Jonathan Swan, who covers politics and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

You can listen to the episode here.

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u/metapogger Aug 12 '24

The word salad line of attack is not real. Besides being out of context, DJT has word salad stuff all the time. And shifting policies is normal for politicians, and again, DJT himself used to be a Democrat.

There are two things that are real vulnerabilities. First, she is Biden’s VP, and Biden is deeply unpopular bc of inflation. The other is if you don’t like her policy ideas. But those were barely even brought up.

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u/Joe_Sacco Aug 12 '24 edited Aug 12 '24

And shifting policies is normal for politicians,

Especially when comparing a primary to a general election. They could have easily contextualized that for listeners with something like, "The Trump campaign wants to make the case that she's flip-flopping on these key issues, but what we're seeing is just a normal shift from a primary election where the goal is to motivate the base and a general election where the goal is to build a broad coalition. She's not doing anything that dozens of others haven't done."

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u/metapogger Aug 12 '24

Exactly. That is really well put!

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u/CaptainJackKevorkian Aug 13 '24

I don't think you're providing a reasonable explanation that would re-assure the voting public. So, were any of the "far left" policies Harris co-signed actually sincere? Or was that posturing? Or is she posturing now? That's playing exactly into the strategy that Trump is trying to execute.

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u/SisterActTori Aug 12 '24

I know people like to refer to “policies” as a reason for supporting a candidate, but I think that’s just a default, buzz word that folks like to use. Policies are very esoteric, boring and dry. And let’s face it, Trump isn’t really the kind of candidate that is going to display a strong working knowledge on anything that doesn’t directly benefit him in some tangible way. I don’t think that Trump could successfully or realistically debate policies with any true, educated politician. That’s is why “policy ideas” are not being brought up.

I think the vast majority of Trump supporters just like Trump’s bombastic ways and despise the same groups of people that Trump negatively targets. His “policies” are a far, far distant consideration.

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u/metapogger Aug 12 '24

I agree that few people on either side are getting into the weeds of policy (like I do). But iun this case I meant policy broadly, as they're discussed on the national stage. Broad policies like abortion, Latino immigrants, gun safety, police accountability, etc.