There is no denying that there has been a marked shift in the tone and tenor of the 2024 presidential election in the wake of Kamala Harris taking Joe Biden’s place at the top of the Democrat ticket.
In a month’s span, Donald Trump went from polling well against the incumbent post-debate debacle and presenting a unified front at the Republican National Convention in the wake of the assassination attempt to finding himself tied with or trailing his new opponent as his campaign appeared to be caught flat-footed.
That is not to say all is lost. But it is to say that many – including Trump loyalists – are suggesting a new approach may be needed. On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Bethany Mandel and Karol Markowicz, authors of Stolen Youth, to discuss the ways Trump can get back on track.
The Problem
As Megyn explained, there has been a criticism of Trump throughout the 2024 campaign but especially in the aftermath of the attempt on his life that his speeches and remarks are going on too long and lack focus.
While she found portions of the former president’s sit down with Elon Musk on X to be “fascinating,” she said much of it dragged. “To me, Trump was too rambling. You just got to… keep it tight. It’s too long to follow, and I am in the business,” Megyn said. “Regular civilians are like, ‘I only have a limited amount of time for this. I got to put my kids to bed. I got to get ready for work.'”
This formula may have worked for Trump in the past, but Megyn does not think it is proving successful this time around. “Too often, what we get is the rallies where they are these long, rambling 90-minute rhetorical journeys,” she said. “They don’t get anywhere near the pickup that they once got… and the polls are not looking anywhere near as strong for Trump as they were. It shows a very tight race.”
Peter Navarro’s Prescription
Megyn is not alone in this assessment. Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro was released from federal prison last month after serving a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena related to January 6. He is now filling in on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast as Bannon serves time for the same offense.
On Monday’s show, Navarro offered an honest take of the state of the Trump-Vance campaign:
NAVARRO: The problem you have with giant figures like Donald Trump is that people may tend to tell him what he wants to hear rather than what he needs to hear… But clearly, the last three weeks have been difficult… There was a decision made to debate Biden prior to him being crowned the nominee, and I’m sure that there were good and bad, pro and con reasons for that. But you can at least say, in hindsight, that that was a catastrophic error… It’s not just less than 90 days til the election. It’s less than half that til early voting… The question is what is the strategy going to be… Roughly half of the Trump rally speech now is usually scripted red meat for the Trump base… The Trump rally formula is simply not sufficiently focused on the very stark policy differences, policy differences between him and Kamala Harris… When Trump attacks Harris personally rather than on policy, Harris’ support among swing voters rises.
He went on to offer four specific ideas for how the Trump team can better format his rallies moving forward, which Megyn paraphrased:
- The former president immediately begins entering into an interactive Jumbotron policy dialog with Harris. Once Harris’ words are played, then Trump offers his side and a set of concrete solutions.
- Before each rally, Trump should hold a press conference with different officials on different issues. For example, former acting director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell could speak on foreign policy and get into specifically what happened during the Biden-Harris administration and what Trump would do differently.
- Insert his own remarks with American citizens harmed by the Biden-Harris administration’s policies. In Pennsylvania, you could have fracking workers who have lost their jobs.
- Rallies must start on time and only last 55 minutes. Less is more.
Megyn called the action plan “simple” and prescriptive, but “do we have a person in Donald Trump who is capable of taking this advice?”
Getting Back on Track
In Markowicz’s view, Trump’s only path to victory involves him doubling down on policy. “I think anybody who wants Donald Trump to win would tell him to run on the issues,” she said. “They would tell him, ‘Your support will rise if you remind people that, before COVID, their lives were going great. The economy was going great. The country was going in a good direction, no wars, etc.'”
He has, she believes, “an argument to make,” but he “keeps falling back into this childish name calling” and “nickname giving.” While that “resonates with his base,” that is not who Trump should be trying to reach. “The base is already there,” she noted. “He needs a swing voter who is saying, ‘Wow, I’m actually thinking about voting for Donald Trump, but then he keeps pushing me away.'”
While the knock on Harris is that she is avoiding the media, Markowicz said the knock on Trump is that he is doing too much media. “The Trump campaign keeps saying that Kamala is not talking to the press and they keep pointing this out,” she said. “Trump should maybe talk to the press just a little less. Like, a little bit less press, a little bit more talking to union workers in Michigan and trying to get their vote.”
It is important to remember, however, what has transpired this summer. “During the debate, we saw a disciplined Donald Trump that we had never seen before. That Donald Trump was killing it,” Mandel recalled. “We have not really seen that discipline since the assassination attempt, and I think he is rattled. Someone can’t shoot at your head and shoot you through the ear and not get you rattled, so I think there is definitely that component of it.”
Ultimately, Markowicz said neither side can afford to rest on their laurels. “They can’t just say we are comfortable with where they are,” she said. “But I think, for a long time, the Trump campaign just was on a trajectory where they didn’t think anything could stop them… If I’m them, I’m in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania over and over and over again.”
One other piece of advice? “They should listen to Peter Navarro,” Megyn concluded. “Don’t forget to listen to Peter Navarro.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Mandel and Markowicz by tuning in to episode 860 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.