Trump Has Become What He Campaigned Against

Observers of Donald Trump’s rallies over the past month — such as the NR Editors panel on Friday — have noticed two related problems with Trump’s rhetorical approach to taking on Kamala Harris (even aside from his ill-considered attacks, as happened when he went after Brian Kemp in Georgia). One is that Trump often goes into spin-the-oldies mode, describing his various favorite themes and grievances in a shorthand that will be familiar to his fans but is nearly incomprehensible to undecided voters who aren’t consumers of MAGA media. The other is that Trump is offering generalized swipes at Harris and Tim Walz for their records and positions but not boring into the specific things they’ve done and said that show them to be extremists.

Back during the primaries, I warned that the flexibility and freshness that characterized Trump’s campaign in 2016 was eroding because, by now, he has been in a lot of political fights and has a record, so his style sounds stale, his jabs are predictable, and he is loath to change course in ways that would amount to admissions of mistakes or failure in the past. What we’re seeing now is another side of that, and an ironic one: Trump turning into what he campaigned against in Republican politics.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Observers of Donald Trump’s rallies over the past month — such as the NR Editors panel on Friday — have noticed two related problems with Trump’s rhetorical approach to taking on Kamala Harris (even aside from his ill-considered attacks, as happened when he went after Brian Kemp in Georgia). One is that Trump often goes into spin-the-oldies mode, describing his various favorite themes and grievances in a shorthand that will be familiar to his fans but is nearly incomprehensible to undecided voters who aren’t consumers of MAGA media. The other is that Trump is offering generalized swipes at Harris and Tim Walz for their records and positions but not boring into the specific things they’ve done and said that show them to be extremists.

Back during the primaries, I warned that the flexibility and freshness that characterized Trump’s campaign in 2016 was eroding because, by now, he has been in a lot of political fights and has a record, so his style sounds stale, his jabs are predictable, and he is loath to change course in ways that would amount to admissions of mistakes or failure in the past. What we’re seeing now is another side of that, and an ironic one: Trump turning into what he campaigned against in Republican politics.