President Trump is going into Saturday’s “Make America Great Again” rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his first since the coronavirus paused traditional campaigning in early March, with an urgent need to turn the page on a tough week of mostly bad news.
The conservative majority Trump has tried to build on the Supreme Court failed him twice, rebuffing him on reversing Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals for younger immigrants living in the country illegally and handing down a ruling on gay and transgender rights that social conservatives widely believe will impinge their religious liberty and be a legal nightmare for religious institutions.
“Nonprofit social services are not exactly awash with finances for litigation purposes,” said Timothy Head, executive director of the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition. To add insult to injury, the opinion was authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first appointee to the Supreme Court.
As this undermined one key rationale for Trump’s reelection — you can count on him to deliver conservative judges — the release of former national security adviser John Bolton’s book undercut another. Bolton claimed that Trump begged the Chinese government to cut a deal that would help him win reelection. While the administration strongly denied the allegation, it plays into Democratic claims that the president encourages foreign powers to meddle in the U.S. election process and is a counterpoint to his case that he is uniquely tough on China.
All this comes as the country is struggling with a pandemic, economic slowdown, and widespread civil unrest in major cities following the death of an unarmed black man under the knee of a white police officer. Not coincidentally, the week ended with discouraging poll numbers. Fox News showed Trump falling below 40% of the vote nationally and trailing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by 12 points. Biden is now hovering around 50% in the RealClearPolitics polling average, creating a new sense of urgency for the Trump camp.
“What is clear is that the president has to put this week behind him and mount an offensive that will show he’s leading the country towards better times,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. “The rallies that he’s planning to do are a step towards trying to recapture the narrative that he’s the one with the momentum heading to November.”
That’s exactly what Trump will be trying to accomplish onstage in Tulsa, with a rally that has been billed as a campaign reboot. It’s part of a larger argument that America is mounting an economic comeback, in the hopes that it produces a similar turnaround for Trump in the polls.
“The great American comeback is underway,” said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany as she opened Friday’s briefing. “Just before joining you all, we learned from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that unemployment has fallen in 43 states in May as Americans are going back to work.”
“Joe Biden oversaw the slowest economic recovery since World War II and continues to champion policies that would crush American workers,” said Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale in a statement accompanying the new “Just Getting Started” ad. “President Trump built the American economy to unprecedented levels before it was artificially interrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, and under his bold leadership, we are already seeing the positive impacts of the Great American Comeback.”
But it won’t be easy. McEnany was peppered with questions about whether the huge indoor rally was safe as the coronavirus lingers and, in some states, seems to be spreading again during the economic reopening. “We’re taking appropriate measures like hand sanitizing and temperature checks and masks being provided at the door,” she insisted. Trump’s rally stemwinders have also been known to generate controversies in their own right.
With 1 million people reportedly requesting a spot at Trump’s rally, it will be a chance to show grassroots enthusiasm for the president has survived all the country’s problems and offer a sharp contrast with Biden, who has done relatively few public appearances. The New York Times described one recent Biden event as the former vice president “playing to a nearly empty room.” Trump supporters are incensed by media coverage that seems favorably disposed to protests but suggests their rallies are too dangerous during the coronavirus.
Republican operatives believe Trump needs to prosecute a case that will drive down Biden’s favorability numbers while instilling confidence that national conditions, and especially the economy, are improving. Both topics are expected to come up when Trump steps behind the podium.
