Trump's campaign is despondent as he keeps reusing strategies which worked against Hillary Clinton but aren't landing on Joe Biden, reports say
- The Trump campaign team is worried that President Donald Trump's attacks on Joe Biden are failing to connect, The New York Times and The Associated Press reported.
- Sources cited by the outlets worried that Trump is reusing strategies from the 2016 election which were effective against Hillary Clinton, but not her successor.
- Recent polls frequently show Biden with a more than 10 point advantage over Trump.
- As the election nears its end, increasing numbers of people close to Trump are downbeat about his chances. Some still insist that victory is possible.
President Donald Trump's reelection campaign fears that the president will lose to Joe Biden because of his insistence of repeating attack lines that he used against Hillary Clinton in 2016, according to multiple reports.
News reports over the weekend added to the growing list of worries for the Trump campaign, with 17 million voters having already submitted their ballots, and 15 days until in-person voting.
Much polling data shows showing Biden leading Trump: An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted between October 9 and October 12 found Biden leading Trump 53% to 42%, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between October 13 and October 15 found Biden ahead 45% to 36%.
As Business Insider previously reported, such results match with other recent polls that show Trump behind Biden by 10 points or more.
Doubt persists in Trump's own campaign that they are taking the most effective approach, much of it aimed at the president himself, sources told The New York Times and The Associated Press.
- Four campaign officials and Republicans close to the White House told the AP that many worry that Trump's campaign is proving ineffective because has struggled to define Biden and is relying on old talking points, like the Russia probe.
- The AP noted that Trump's attempts to re-use the attacks that he used against Clinton in the last election haven't been seen to damage Biden.
- Brendan Buck, a former adviser to Republican House Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner, told the AP that Trump is being misled by an "echo chamber" of advisors and cheering crowds.
- The Times reported that his choice to target Biden's son, Hunter, will likely not connect beyond his already-enthusiastic base.
As Business Insider's Tom Porter reported last week, multiple reports had already pointed to growing fears within both the White House and the Republican party of a Biden victory.
Those fears were reportedly deepened by Trump's performance in his debate with Biden and his coronavirus diagnosis.
The Times noted that Trump's team are telling Republicans that they expect to do better than the polls suggest.