President Trump is eager to press on with plans to reschedule his postponed appearance in New Hampshire, possibly by the end of next week, even as aides wonder whether they should scale back rallies to better focus media attention on Joe Biden.
Advisers are divided on whether smaller-scale events, such as factory visits and mini town halls, would help avoid questions about COVID-19 and the president’s performance as he dominates coverage.
“He loves the rally. I get it,” said a source close to the campaign and familiar with the internal debate. “They are fun, and he gets things off his chest, but at the end of the day, the negatives for now outweigh the positives, at least until after the conventions.”
For weeks, advisers have been warning Trump that, if he is to win, he must make November’s election all about Biden and his long record in Washington. But that has been undermined by a president inclined to react to every attack or slight and by his approach, focused on raucous rallies.
Trump was due to appear before supporters at a New Hampshire airfield last Saturday in an event that officials hoped would serve as a blueprint for coronavirus-safe rallies following the disappointing turnout in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
However, it was postponed as Tropical Storm Fay rolled along the Northeastern seaboard. Reports quickly surfaced that officials were worried about a poor turnout.
At the time, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the rally would be held within a couple of weeks. So far, the campaign website lists no future in-person events for the president.
Local party officials say they are now on standby to reschedule the rally as soon as the White House can slot it into the president’s schedule.
Corey Lewandowski, a Trump campaign adviser and New Hampshire resident, said he was working with local officials to find a new venue.
“I’ve had multiple conversations with the president to reschedule it, so it is going to happen,” he said. “I don’t have a date yet, but it is going to happen.”
Rallies formed a critical part of Trump’s 2016 run, during which Lewandowski served as campaign manager. They earned hours of airtime and column inches for an outsider campaign that was run on a shoestring.
This time around, they serve as data sponges — attendees sign up with cellphone numbers, which can be cross-referenced with databases to allow targeted online advertising — and insiders say they are a way to keep the president focused on his message.
“It is something the campaign utilized very successfully in 2016,” said Lewandowski. “The rallies are an opportunity for people to see the president, which is an honor and a privilege, and it’s an opportunity for the president to deliver his message directly to the people in a setting which is not the White House.”
But advisers are grappling with how best to hold rallies in the time of the coronavirus. After a three-month hiatus, Trump’s return to arena events in Tulsa was dominated by pictures of empty seats and reports that members of his campaign team were struck down by COVID-19.
One former White House official said the next event would be under intense scrutiny.
“It has to go off flawlessly,” said the former official.
And that comes with other problems, according to the source close to the campaign.
“Strategically, I don’t know that it’s a good idea,” he said. “If we announce we are doing rallies, it is going to dominate the coverage, it is going to dominate the media. But it might not be the right type of coverage.”
“What we want is Joe Biden to get a bit more of the national spotlight.”
The alternative might be to hold more round tables, official visits, factory tours — the sort of events that would earn local coverage in swing states but not dominate the national conversation.
Either way, the local party is on standby to put together a rally in New Hampshire, which is increasingly seen as a must-win state.
Chris Ager, a Republican National Committee representative, said: “We’re expecting it could be at short notice, and we are prepared for that. I know in New Hampshire that the enthusiasm is high.”
And campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said rallies remained a central part of the strategy.
“The president is eager to continue talking to voters because it’s where he is so effective,” he said. “The contrast couldn’t be clearer, and we want people to see the difference between President Trump’s vitality and leadership up against Joe Biden’s confused meanderings.”
