In an attempt to get President Trump to stop holding daily coronavirus briefings, several advisers shared with him last week internal polling showing him lagging behind former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in key swing states, three people with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post.
Trump's poll numbers have been dropping over the last several weeks, and with the coronavirus death toll rising and the economy spiraling, advisers wanted to encourage him to hold fewer briefings and to stop taking questions from reporters. In a call last Wednesday with campaign manager Brad Parscale and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Trump was informed of two polls — one from his campaign, the other from the RNC — that showed him behind Biden.
Aides say Trump does not trust data that isn't good for him, and rebuffed the idea of not holding coronavirus briefings, saying people "loved" them and think he is "fighting for them," one person told the Post. During a briefing the next day, Trump suggested injecting bleach as a possible treatment for COVID-19.
The polling data put Trump in a horrible mood for the rest of the week, aides told the Post, and at one point he called Parscale to yell at him. He cursed throughout the phone call, they added, and said, "I'm not losing to Joe Biden." One aide told the Post that Trump said he might sue Parscale, but was joking. After the call, Parscale told others that Trump was just venting. On Tuesday, Parscale visited the Oval Office to deliver poll numbers that weren't so grim, aides said, lifting Trump's spirits. Read more at The Washington Post.