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Donald Trump’s beleaguered campaign team woke up to another setback Sunday as the president began his second full day in the hospital: a new national poll showing his candidate 14 points behind challenger Joe Biden with less than a month to go. on election day.
The NBC / Wall Street Journal poll indicating a 53-39% lead for the Democratic Party nominee injected urgency into Trump advisers already struggling to find a strategy for the final weeks of the campaign through Nov. 3.
It was becoming apparent that Vice President Mike Pence, who tested negative for the coronavirus, and members of Trump’s family, once they come out of quarantine, will take on leadership roles at virtual rallies and then in person until the Trump himself recovers on time or unless they do. to resume the campaign.
“It is important that our campaign move vigorously forward,” Trump’s senior campaign adviser Steve Cortes said on Fox News Sunday.
“The Maga (Make America Great Again) movement is bigger than just President Trump. It is essential, of course, but it is not the only key element. The other people, including, of course, the vice president, the campaign people, millions of regular Americans, must step up and, to some extent, fill the void that remains because our champion, our main instrument, is not capable. at this time of vigorous campaigning. . “
Pence has public campaign events planned in Arizona, Nevada and Washington DC, and will travel to Salt Lake City for Wednesday’s vice presidential debate with Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate, in which Trump’s team seeks a strong performance.
The NBC poll showing Biden extending his lead over Trump was taken on the heels of last Tuesday’s tumultuous first presidential debate in Cleveland, in which an argumentative president constantly interrupted both his rival and moderator Chris Wallace.
Jason Miller, another senior Trump campaign adviser, said he is “not concerned” about Pence’s travels and campaigns.
“We are on a campaign, we have a month to go, we see Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaigning,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
“He is going to have a very aggressive schedule, just like the first family, Don, Eric, Ivanka. We have several of our supporters, our coalition, Black Voices for Trump, Latinos for Trump, the entire Maga operation will be deployed everywhere.
“We cannot hide from this virus forever, we have to face it [and] As soon as we can come back in person, we will, ”he added.
Meanwhile, Biden’s campaign since Trump’s hospitalization Friday night has been low-key. On Sunday, pool reporters covering the former vice president at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, were informed of a “cap,” the formal announcement of the end of any public appearance or statement for the day, at 9.16 a.m.
Biden’s campaign announced Friday that it would suspend negative messages attacking the president while he was in the hospital, although Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, said Sunday that did not mean that Trump’s handling of the pandemic, or your financial record, they were wrong. limits.
“No discussions about Covid, when there are 7 million people who have had this virus,” Klobuchar said on Fox News Sunday when Wallace asked him what topics Biden would not discuss.
“[Biden] He has said: ‘Look, I want the president to return, he wants to discuss more with him, he wants him to recover soon. It is not about politics or partisanship, but certainly about the pandemic, the effect it has had on people’s lives, how they have been wrong in this administration, of course that is on the table ”.
Despite the anticipated cessation of campaign activity on Sunday, Biden’s team has said it has no plans to reduce events as long as the candidate and those around him continue to test negative for Covid-19.
“Joe Biden will be in that debate,” senior campaign adviser Symone Sanders said of the second presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami. “We hope that President Trump can participate.”
Some political analysts believe that Trump’s stay in the hospital will further damage his campaign after the damage caused by a poor performance in the debate.
“I’ve had conversations with Republicans working in swing states across the country and they are alarmed,” Steve Hayes, founder and CEO of The Dispatch, told Fox News Sunday.
“It’s not just affecting President Trump. People view the performance of the debate in a negative light, but it is also starting to affect Republicans in low votes. If this current trajectory continues through November 3, we will be talking about many more Republican senators at risk than we are talking about right now. “
