While the Republican Party nominee appeared headed for a clear victory in November, Donald Trump's detractors and allies now say he appears stunned. Both through the assassination attempt to which he was subjected in mid-July, and perhaps even more through the withdrawal of Joe Biden's candidacy.
Sometimes vengeful, sometimes morose: in the face of the recent outings of the one who was the 45e The US president, campaign watchers are wondering about his strategy, faced with the dynamic of his rival Kamala Harris, 59 years old.
Joe Biden, who was 81 years old faced with doubts about his mental acuity, he previously served as a lightning rod for the age of Donald Trump, just three years his junior, who at 78 became the oldest US presidential candidate.
Memory is lost
Because now that the Democratic president has given way to a younger, more eloquent and energetic candidate, certain faults of Donald Trump are brought to the fore: his incoherent lines with a sometimes apocalyptic tone, his lack of energy in the absence of an audience . and his memory falls on certain names.
On Thursday, during a press conference in which he was supposed to praise his economic program, Donald Trump first discussed the subject, his eyes often glued to his binder. But the businessman has distanced himself on numerous occasions, notably vilifying wind turbines that kill birds or even challenging the number of supporters at Kamala Harris rallies.
Former (brief) adviser to Donald Trump in the White House before his defeat, Anthony Scaramucci said the former president is “very disturbed” by the changing dynamics of the campaign. His diatribes, hesitations and attacks? So many underlying elements that Donald Trump “is now scared, surrounded and very angry,” Anthony Scaramucci said on MSNBC.
“They're not nice to me”
The Prévert-esque inventory of his grievances continues to grow: “They're not nice to me,” he said specifically on Thursday.
The billionaire redoubled his efforts to attack Kamala Harris, who he accused of “going black” for electoral reasons and whom he describes as “communist”.
“I think I'm within my rights to launch personal attacks,” he said again Thursday, expanding on recurring criticism: “I don't have a lot of respect for her. I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she'll be a terrible president.”
“Odd”, the point that hits the mark
Faced with Donald Trump's sometimes outrageous attacks, Kamala Harris' campaign team decided to take a provocative stance.
Donald Trump 'won't win by talking about crowd sizes' at everyone's rallies, former Republican primary rival fumes
The Democratic camp thus emphasizes the former president's “egotistical” and “full of personal grievances” diatribes and no longer hesitates to describe him and his acolytes as “weird.” A dig launched by Tim Walz just before he was chosen as running mate by Kamala Harris, which struck a chord with the public and who has the gift of annoying to the highest degree Republicans, Donald Trump in the lead.
Can he change his style?
Several leaders in his party are almost begging the former president to focus on substantive issues rather than playground bickering.
His former primary rival Nikki Haley asked her on Fox News to “stop complaining” about Kamala Harris. Donald Trump “isn't going to win by talking about the size of the crowds” at everyone's meetings, she said.
But will he be able to stop? Contempt has long been “a central element” of Trump's style, points out Elizabeth Bennion, a political science professor at Indiana University.