Inside the Week That Shook the Trump Campaign

“In the days after the first debate Sept. 29 between President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, the president faced two problems,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“One was his debate performance. On the flight home from the debate, he described it as superb to family and staff, who said little to dissuade him. But by the next day, Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, was imploring friendly media personalities and other allies to level with his father-in-law about the angry and aggressive debate style he had displayed, according to people familiar with the calls. Polls would soon show the performance had cost the president support.”

“The other was the fallout from the Supreme Court nomination ceremony he had held the previous weekend at the White House, which Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, would soon describe as a “superspreader” of Covid-19. Within days, Mr. Trump would test positive for the disease.”