Donald Trump Wants No Advice

The candidate fires his campaign manager because he’s no longer the front-runner, but he won’t admit his own mistakes.

When things go wrong, heads have to roll. In Donald Trump’s universe, it’s never his own. Instead of looking inward or correcting his own shortcomings, he fires his campaign director.

The New One Already Has a History with Trump’s Team

Many breathed a sigh of relief a couple of months back when it appeared Trump had taken a turn toward being serious about running for president. This time it’s totally different. The gloves are off and Trump has hired a tough guy who doesn’t mind a good fight. And in that regard, there’s a juicy connection to Team Trump: a squabble over accusations of assault and battery on a female reporter played a role in the downfall of a previous manager in charge of Trump’s campaign.

A quick flashback to mid-June: Trump was lagging in the polls and trailing Hillary in campaign fundraising by a wide margin. Friction between Trump and the media was on the rise. He fired his then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was gaining attention with his verbal and physical attacks on critical journalists. Trump replaced him with Paul Manafort, a down-to-business type with more serious habits. Trump brought him on board as early as April and gave him the task of rounding up enough delegates for nomination before convention day. Manafort was in charge from that point onward.

Constant Insults Put Off Many People

At the start, being in constant attack mode was thought to be an insightful approach, but while it appealed to Trump’s fans – those who had had enough of politics as usual and had turned to Trump – it also prevented him from attracting new voters. They expected at least a modicum of civility and were put off by the open insults. Electoral success depends on them as well.

But back to mid-August: Trump is lagging in the polls and fighting the U.S. media, while Hillary is winning the race for campaign funds. Manafort hasn’t exactly been fired but has clearly been demoted. His function has been filled by Stephen Bannon who up to now had been executive chairman of Breitbart News, an aggressively conservative media organization best defined by its undercover research methods and exposure of left-of-center politicians. He was also Michelle Fields’ boss – the reporter whose assault charges Corey Lewandowski defended himself against in court.

Trump’s Diminishing Presidential Chances

In national polls, Trump is currently about seven percentage points behind Clinton on average. In critical “must-win” states like Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, he lags much further behind. He clearly has a problem raising funds. Many traditional Republican supporters are turned off by his vulgar “shirt-sleeves” style. While still willing to donate to congressional candidates not hopelessly behind in competitive races, most decline to support Trump monetarily.

Trump has repeatedly said he is changing to a more presidential tone, but he quickly reverts to his old ways, often using impulsive expressions in public statements. Recently, he attacked a Muslim family that had recently lost their son while serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq. Added to that was his suggestion that Russian hackers might be helpful in tracking down emails missing from Hillary Clinton’s account and his provocative assertion that those opposed to further gun controls perhaps held the solution to preventing a Hillary Clinton presidency – immediately interpreted by Democrats as an appeal for someone to assassinate her.

Trump always reacts angrily when U.S. media spend more time reporting on his latest derailments than they do his campaign speeches or what he intends to do as president regarding national security, foreign policy or taxation. His advisers have constantly tried to get him to moderate his tone to sound more presidential.

His latest choices in selecting campaign personnel indicate he is not yet ready to take their advice.