Trump Runs the Only Way He Knows How

Washington Post: “In eight rallies over the past nine days, the president has offered a closing argument to voters that is both dark and outlandish, marked by offensive rhetoric laden with grievance.”

“Campaign advisers and allies say Trump has been agitating to get back out on the campaign trail in defiance of the coronavirus pandemic, resuming the rallies that energize his base and became a symbol of his underdog victory in 2016. The president believes that he alone, unfiltered, and speaking directly to voters, helped lift his campaign four years ago and that it will be key to his reelection as well.”

“Trump is running for a second term the only way he seems to know how: Off-script, with little to no discipline, spewing controversy and viscera from the stage. Yet if his words are divisive and shocking, they are also familiar — and may have lost some of their ability to persuade voters.”