Bobby Jindal is coming after Donald Trump.
In a Thursday speech that was previewed by his advisors, the Louisiana governor will begin a concerted campaign to discredit the New York businessman/entertainer who sits atop nearly every poll in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Jindal began the effort on Wednesday, releasing a campaign web video that compared Trump to Charlie Sheen during an infamous interview the actor gave in the aftermath of a drug overdose.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, Jindal will take a different route than other GOP presidential contenders who have tried — and so far failed — to damage Trump, his advisors said during a conference call. Where others have focused on Trump’s ideological inconsistency and liberal positions on key issues, Jindal will call him a clown who is unfit to serve as president at such a pivotal moment in the nation’s history.
“He’s not going to pull any punches,” Jindal campaign chief strategist Curt Anderson told reporters.
The Jindal campaign said its Trump strategy could best be explained by the video. It doesn’t focus on Trump’s record of supporting liberal policies and Democratic politicians, as did a web attack ad issued by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Rather, it mocks Trump, who for years hosted the NBC reality television show “The Apprentice,” as a goofy entertainer.
“Charlie Sheen is clearly Donald Trump’s spirit animal. Or maybe it’s the other way around?” Jindal campaign spokesman Timmy Teepell said in a statement. “They’d win here, they’d win there, they’d be bi-winning. It’s a match made in heaven.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. In the latest RealClearPolitics average of national polls gauging the GOP race, Trump led with 28 percent; Jindal wasn’t registering.
Jindal’s move comes just as the underdog appears to be making headway in Iowa, host of the first nominating contest of the 2016 primary campaign. In the latest NBC/Marist poll of likely Iowa caucus goers, Jindal stood in a three-way tie for seventh (up from twelfth in July,) joining Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 4 percent. Trump led the field in that poll with 29 percent.
Jindal is betting his presidential prospects on a come from behind win in Iowa, and spending most of his time campaigning there compared to the other crucial early primary states. So far, his team likes what it’s seeing. In a telephone interview from Iowa where he is based, Taylor Teepell, the governor’s national field director, said crowds at Jindal town halls have been robust and voters have been open to his pitch.
“We’re in the middle of a marathon right now,” Teepell said. “We’re pacing well and we’re gaining traction.”
That makes Jindal’s decision to tackle Trump somewhat curious.
Other Republicans who have directly challenged Trump’s legitimacy have seen their poll numbers slide, among them former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. It’s as yet unclear how attacking Trump is working for Bush, who launched a concerted effort to take him down late last month. Bush was in a slightly different position, given that Trump had been attacking him with impunity for months.
Cruz, on the other hand, has embraced Trump, a strategic move designed to scoop up the New Yorker’s supporters down the line, and his numbers have in many cases improved, or at least held steady depending on the poll. Jindal’s advisors said the governor expects better results because he’s approaching Trump differently than Bush, Paul and Perry.
Rather than try to discredit the bombastic billionaire and reality television star as a faux conservative, Jindal will move to tar Trump as an unserious candidate who is out for himself and could squander a big opportunity for Republicans to reset the course of the country. Trump’s pitch has been light on policy and based on his tough-guy personality and deal-making skills. Jindal plans to challenge Trump at that level.
“He’ll make the argument that you have no idea what Trump will do; he’ll do what’s in his best interest,” Anderson said. “Jindal’s perspective is, it’s more important what the next president does than who he is. Just putting a Republican in the White House doesn’t accomplish anything.”
This isn’t the first time Jindal has come out guns blazing for one of his Republican competitors. He spent days going after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker after the Midwesterner unveiled his plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Obama’s healthcare law. Jindal until then was the only other 2016 contender with a repeal and replacement plan, and he lambasted Walker’s proposal, which otherwise received solid reviews from conservatives, as “Obamacare-lite.”
Regarding Trump, Jindal’s team said the governor is not just giving a speech and then dropping the matter. He plans to incorporate his crusade against Trump into his overall campaign strategy. Trump hasn’t paid much attention to Jindal thus far. But he usually relishes attacks from competitors as an excuse to hit back. Anderson said Jindal is prepared to do battle.
“If you get into this you have to see it through, I think Jindal’s ready to do that,” Anderson said. “He doesn’t seem to able to ignore stuff like this.”
Disclosure: The author’s wife works as an advisor to Scott Walker.
