GOP official says 'everyone is wondering where the bottom is' during Trump campaign's final stretch
Four years ago, The Washington Post published the infamous Access Hollywood tapes that appeared to threaten to derail then-candidate Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Now, some Republicans feel like Trump's re-election campaign has reached a similar make or break juncture after his coronavirus diagnosis, with some vulnerable congressional Republicans beginning to distance themselves from the president, the Post reports.
One senior GOP official close to Trump told the Post "the situation is getting worse and worse," adding that "this is like Access Hollywood because we're all seeing terrible poll numbers. We didn't think it'd be this bad at this point. Everyone is wondering where the bottom is, and they're figuring out what they need to do."
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But not everyone is concerned. After all, the seemingly damaging recordings didn't prevent Trump from defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016, and something — perhaps Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation process — could shift the winds again. "People's memories are so short that what has them down today could be forgotten by next week if the court or whatever else becomes the issue," said Tom Ingraham, a Tennessee-based GOP strategist. "It's natural for this period to be a little nerve-racking for Republicans, given the president's illness and the way he handled the first debate. That doesn't mean it lasts." Read more at The Washington Post.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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