He enjoyed the spotlight in 2016 and 2020. Now he refuses to debate and avoids interviews.
Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Dodge County Airport on October 6, 2024 in Juneau, Wisconsin.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Donald Trump has been running for president for almost ten years. He has never won the popular vote because his policies are out of touch with the majority of American voters. But throughout his ongoing campaign, the scandal-plagued former president has shown enough energy and aplomb to win three consecutive GOP nominations and flip enough battleground states to win the 2016 Electoral College. He came close to doing it again in 2016. 2020. And this year he’s back at it.
But something is very different about Trump’s 2024 campaign. The perennial candidate, who once grabbed every significant opportunity for promotion, is afraid this year.
Make no mistake: Trump is still in the news as major media outlets continue to contort themselves to present the Republican’s re-election bid as anything but a normal campaign. He makes authoritarian statements on his failed platform Truth Social. He appears at staged campaign events, although, as Vice President Kamala Harris noted, “people are starting to leave his rallies early because of fatigue and boredom.” And he remains engaged in what he expects to be a friendly interview with MAGA allies.
But this week, Trump canceled what had been his main interview of the fall campaign — a half-hour segment on CBS 60 minutes it promised to give him an even score with Harris, the Democratic nominee, who appeared for a tough but fair round of questioning. Trump’s absence was duly noted at the opening of the special 60 minuteswhich aired on Monday night. Correspondent Scott Pelley opened the program by explaining that the candidates’ appearances on the nation’s main television news had been a “tradition for more than half a century” and that Trump, who spoke with enthusiasm, somewhat surprisingly, with 60 minutes in 2016and much more combative in 2020— initially agreed to a lengthy conversation with Peli this year.
“But unfortunately last week, Trump canceled,” Peli said. why? “The company offered varying explanations,” Pelli said. “First, he complained that we would check the facts of the interview. We check every story. Trump later said he needed an apology for the 2020 interview with the veteran 60 minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl, in which she interrupted one of the candidate’s more egregious attempts to spread misinformation on national television.
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So, in the end, viewers watched Harris do exactly what we expect a presidential candidate to do — and a president. She sat down for a serious interview with a journalist who asked leading questions and demanded honest answers. Meanwhile, Trump went into hiding after he was caught lying about the size of the crowd at a Sunday rally in Juneau, Wisconsin, where he was flies swarmed.
The former president was still undercover Tuesday as Harris answered additional questions The view, The Howard Stern Showand The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The GOP nominee’s only scheduled appearance was a staged town hall event featuring “Trump transition team” members Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard.
Trump will be back on the road at the end of the week for more rallies – including a truly inexplicable event at the Calhoun Ranch in Coachella, Californiaa state that gave him just 34 percent of the vote in 2020 and where he is not expected to do better this year. (Lest anyone imagine that the former president might be targeting a supporter base in California’s Riverside County, The sun of the desert A headline from 2020 puts that fantasy to rest: “Biden Wins Every City in the Coachella Valley in 2020.” Voting took place in the city of Coachella itself Biden 7948, Trump 2008a 4 to 1 advantage for a Democrat.)
As Trump prepares to head into the desert, Harris continues to campaign for a second debate with his Republican rival, a traditional fall event for the two major party candidates since 1976.
But Trump declined the invitation. why? It is not difficult to understand. The universal assessment of the first televised face-off between Trump and Harris in September was that she cleaned his watch. “Harris won the debate — and it wasn’t close,” he said Politicsfor now USA Today explained: “Who won the debate? Harris’ strong play evokes a defensive Trump.”
After Trump’s defeat on stage PhiladelphiaHarris immediately asked for more debate. Trump immediately refused.
Since then, Harris has consistently led the polls. She now has a national lead in a recent Real Clear Politics poll that is roughly double what she had on debate night.
That being said, the race remains close in a number of battleground states. So Harris is ramping up his policy-driven campaign, launching a plan for the most significant expansion of Medicare since the program was launched six decades ago. In addition to covering the cost of home health care, Harris wants to expand Medicare to cover hearing and vision costs, as previously proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Enthusiastic Sanders, who will campaign for Harris in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan in the coming days says“Kamala Harris’ plan to expand Medicare to home health care is an important step forward. Let’s do it.” For his part, Harris will tout the ambitious plan at rallies across the country, including a major event Friday in the senior-rich state of Arizona.
And Trump? He will be at Coachella, where temperatures are forecast to exceed 100 degrees and the Democratic vote will be active.
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