Donald Trump’s Basement Campaign Is Working – With every passing day, the unprecedented nature of Donald Trump’s political career becomes more…unprecedented.
Every time he’s been indicted, his poll figures have gone up.
When he skipped the Milwaukee debates in August in favor of a simultaneous interview with Tucker Carlson on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, his competitors failed to make any inroads.
His Republican rivals have been touring the nation over the summer.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has pledged to visit all 99 counties in Iowa where the first caucus will be held on January 15, 2024.
He’s participated in more than 100 campaign stops so far this year, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said she has completed over 120 grass-roots campaign stops since May.
The Donald Trump for President Campaign ‘From the Basement’
Donald Trump has taken a different path. Trump’s commitments have been fewer and further between. According to the Washington Post, Trump has attended 60 campaign-related events since the end of May. Ten percent of these were at his own golf clubs, including the Saudi-backed LIV Golf events at his clubs in New Jersey and Virginia. 11 events were held at his private club in Bedminster, N.J., three were remarks next to a plane following each indictment, while five were virtual events. A lot of the events were on the same day, such as brief stops at restaurants enroute elsewhere.
Only half of Trump’s campaign events were traditional campaign stops, such as speeches, rallies, or voter engagement events.
Given his insurmountable lead in the national and state polls, it’s fair to ask…
How Does Donald Trump Keep Getting Away With It?
Former President Trump gets far more free press than his competitors – no surprise given that he’s the first ex-president to be criminally charged. When the media reports his activities, voters draw their own conclusions. Some will agree with him, some not, but as the old adage goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
Trump’s digital tactics are important to consider too. If you want to see what he has to say first hand, you have to go on a social media platform Truth Social, where discontent is almost forbidden given the hundreds of thousands of MAGA Republicans on the site.
Trump isn’t on X/Twitter, but his supporters are. An army of social media users criticize anything Trump would himself were he to remain on the platform, effectively spreading his message for him.
It’s somewhat hypocritical of the former president to slam Joe Biden for running a basement campaign when he’s hardly touring the country himself. Then again, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
His absence at state fairs and important Republican dinners may come back to haunt him among elite Republicans. However, he needs the support of the masses, not just those at the top. If he’s able to reach them just by doing the bare minimum, it ponders the question as to why he needs to do any more.
Clearly, Donald Trump does what he wants and how he wants it – even running for president.
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist based in Canada. He has written for the Western Standard, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo, and has covered notable events including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
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