On Tuesday, following dramatic testimony from Stormy Daniels in his criminal trial, Donald Trump told reporters, “I’d like to be campaigning.” With this in mind, it was tempting to assume that, a day later, the former president would be on the campaign trail since it would be a day off from the legal proceedings.
That’s not, however, how the Republican spent his Wednesday. NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump will spend his day off from court hosting a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago residence for buyers of his NFT trading cards, according to a source familiar with the planning. … The source familiar with the planning shared that Trump’s day off from court will also include private political meetings.
It would be an exaggeration to say that the presumptive GOP nominee has entirely avoided the campaign trial. He did, after all, headline some events in Wisconsin and Michigan last week.
But it’s hard not to notice that Trump could be taking full advantage of his trial’s off-days — and at least so far, that’s not happening.
What makes his schedule especially odd is the frequency with which the former president complains about not being on the campaign trail. Indeed, he’s routinely referenced this point to reinforce his nonsensical claims about the criminal case constituting “election interference.”
Trump complained to reporters last week, for example, that he’d be campaigning in Ohio were it not for his trial. A few days earlier, he said, “I’m supposed to be in Georgia, I’m supposed to be in New Hampshire, I’m supposed to be in Ohio and lots of other places, and they have me sitting here.”
Just one day earlier, Trump had the day off from his trial. He spent it at Mar-a-Lago.
“They want to keep me off the campaign trail,” the suspected felon said during the jury selection process, failing to note that he’d have plenty of opportunities to hit the campaign trial — opportunities that he’d largely ignore. A Washington Post analysis added yesterday:
The impression one would get, then, is that Trump — sidelined by having to be in Manhattan four days a week — would be cramming as many campaign events into the other three days as possible. After all, he’s running a campaign and has campaign things to do, but not much time in which to do them! But the reality is different: On his days off, he generally hasn’t been on the campaign trail at all.
The Post’s analysis added, “He has spent as many Wednesdays playing golf since the trial began as he has holding rallies.” All of this, of course, leads to a question for which there is no obvious answer: Why isn’t Trump campaigning more? I won’t pretend to be able to read the Republican’s mind. Maybe the trial is exhausting him, physically and/or emotionally. Maybe Trump is so confident that he’s going to win in November that he doesn’t see the point in holding more rallies. Maybe he’s just getting lazier. Whatever the explanation, the more Trump chooses not to bother with events on his trial’s off-days, the easier it is to dismiss his “I’d like to be campaigning” complaints.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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