Say what you will about President Donald Trump (and I have), but his 2016 campaign message was simple and memorable: Make America Great Again. Trump rallies served up a chorus of predictable phrases that became the soundtrack for his campaign: “Build that wall,” “Lock her up” and “drain the swamp.” The chants were often offensive, but they were also effective. More effective, some in the media argued, then rival Hillary Clinton’s own messaging.
Here we are, less than three weeks before Election Day, and I challenge you to identify Trump’s 2020 campaign theme.
But here we are, less than three weeks before Election Day, and I challenge you to identify Trump’s 2020 campaign theme. Trump’s message this go around is, quite simply, as all over the place as Trump is. And it seems likely that this chaos is contributing to Trump trailing Democratic opponent Joe Biden nationally by 14 points in a recent NBC/WSJ poll.
Trump’s campaign is aware of its own problem. When Trump launched his re-election campaign in June 2019, its slogan was “Keep America Great.” But amid a deadly pandemic and an economic recession, apparently even Trump knew his was no longer a winning message.
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And yet, no effective theme has replaced it. Instead we have Trump just being Trump. Maybe that’s good for a reality show — and it might have been more appealing when it still felt novel — but four years later, Americans are tired of the schtick.
At various times this summer and fall, Trump has made baffling decisions. For example, last week Trump announced he was walking away from the stimulus package bargaining table because he claimed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was “not negotiating in good faith.” After a great deal of public criticism — including from the usually friendly hosts on Fox News — Trump reversed himself a few days later, increasing his administration's offer from $1.6 trillion in pandemic aid to $1.8 trillion. Trump then appeared on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show to declare, “I would like to see a bigger stimulus package frankly than either the Democrats or Republicans are offering.”
What’s the takeaway here? The flip-flopping is confusing and undercuts any attempt at a populist "man of the people” approach. If he really cared about Americans, why walk away in the first place?
But Trump has never really found a way to spin the coronavirus. He spent months downplaying Covid-19 and masks, only to fall sick himself. Instead, he has settled mostly for conspiracy theories, complaining about misinformation and trying to reassure fans of his health. During a Monday rally on Florida, for example, Trump declared himself “immune” to the virus, an obvious, unnecessary and potentially harmful falsehood that is unlikely to move the needle with anyone other than rabid fans.
Then you have Trump’s inexplicable actions on Twitter. On Tuesday night, Trump shared an image of Biden’s head on the body of a person in a nursing home, surrounded by other senior citizens in wheelchairs. The caption read, “Biden for Resident.” As former Republican National Committee chair and current MSNBC analyst Michael Steele explained on “Morning Joe,” the tweet was both insulting and bizarrely counterproductive. Senior citizens have historically been a strong source of GOP support, but Trump is currently trailing Biden nationally by as many as 20 points with the demo. This tweet won’t help close that gap.
Also, on Tuesday, Trump bizarrely retweeted a QAnon follower espousing the conspiracy theory that U.S. Navy SEALs didn’t actually kill Osama Bin Laden in 2011, but instead shot a body double. Trump’s support with members of the military has recently softened after a series of missteps. This tweet won’t reverse that trend, either. Robert O’Neil, a former Navy SEAL who claims he killed bin Laden, has long been one of Trump’s more vocal military supporters — but not this time. "Very brave men said [goodbye] to their kids to go kill Osama bin Laden. We were given the order by President Obama,” O'Neil said.
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What do all of these tweets and public appearances have in common? Not much — and that’s the problem. It appears that Trump’s focused albeit xenophobic 2016 campaign refrains have been replaced with a strategy of throwing everything and anything against the wall and hoping for a miracle. Could it work? Anything is possible. But if it doesn’t, and Trump gets trounced, his 2020 theme may be remembered as “Make the Democratic Party Great Again.”
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