On Saturday night, when Trump said The New York Times is “going to hell” and threatened to revoke the newspaper’s press credentials, the crowd applauded approvingly. As opposed to his more dynamic public persona, which is that of an unhinged, yet confident, individual. Written by Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman, the piece sketched out a picture of a “sullen and erratic” Trump who expresses regrets about heeding guidance from advisers to tone down his act; a politician who squanders political capital in meetings with top Republicans; and who continues to get advice from former campaign manager and current CNN political commentator Corey Lewandowski.
Advertisement
As for Trump’s contention that the New York Times reported on meetings that “never happened”, Purdy told the Erik Wemple Blog, “Any story like this is vetted thoroughly beforehand and we feel completely confident in our reporting”. “If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn’t put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20 percent”, Trump tweeted on Sunday morning.
Although complaints about campaign coverage are hardly new, particularly from Republicans, “the ferocity of Trump’s attacks is unprecedented in modern American politics”, notes CNN’s Brian Stelter.
During the meeting, Trump said that “he would compete in states like OR, which has not voted Republican since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 landslide”, according to the Times.
He would have to stick to a teleprompter and end his freestyle digressions and insults, like his repeated attacks on a Hispanic federal judge. “You had a number of things that were appropriate to this campaign, were part of what Mr. Trump has been talking about”. It was time, he agreed, to get on track. In an interview on CNBC on Thursday, he said he was prepared to face defeat. “Whiny, off-the-record naysayers don’t count as legitimate observers”, Miller said in the statement.
Trump’s advisers are still convinced of the basic potency of a sales pitch about economic growth and a shake-up in Washington, and they aspire to compete in as many as 21 states, despite Trump’s perilous standing in the four states – Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina – likely to decide the election.
After the newspaper said the Trump campaign is ironically “failing” to tame Trump, the presidential candidate in turn said the publication was failing. “Hopefully, he can have some more good days”.
Advertisement
It must be said that the Republican candidate is in the throes of doubt and does not hide it. If anyone was disconcerted, Giuliani suggested, it was the people steering his campaign. “Maybe we’ll do it”.
