On Friday morning, MSNBC "Morning Joe" regular John Heilemann raised the specter that Donald Trump is not physically up to a hard-charging campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris, as evidenced by his staying out of the public eye since the Republican National Convention.
Speaking with the MSNBC panel, the longtime political analyst pointed out that after highly scrutinized conventions where the presidential candidate is anointed, that person usually hits the road to maintain the enthusiasm.
In the case of Trump, who is known for his obsession with being in the spotlight, he has only, by Heilemann's count, held three rallies in three weeks, choosing instead to bunker down in Mar-a-Lago where he has conducted a few interviews by phone when he is not ranting on his Truth Social platform.
ALSO READ: 21 worthless knick-knacks Donald Trump will give you for your cash
Noting Trump's lack of public appearances, host Joe Scarborough asked, "Are they afraid? Is he afraid that the crowds are going to continue to decrease and Kamala's crowds are going to continue to increase? Why is he afraid to go out there?"
"Since the Republican convention. he did an event in Grand Rapids, I believe. He did an event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and he did this event last week in Atlanta," the analyst replied. "There may be — I'm not going to say that that's the definitive full count — but that's three in three weeks. Now, normally, as you know, after a political candidate's, presidential candidate's convention, it's the customary thing is to barnstorm the country."
"Why has Donald Trump been so infrequently on the campaign trail over the course of these past three weeks while so much has been changing?" he later added. "All this stuff has been happening, and Trump would normally — knowing what we know about Trump over the course of watching him for the last eight years — this is not the play. Trump would be like, 'I have to get out there, see my people, flex.'"
"He hasn't done any of that, and I don't have an answer, but it's really weird," he continued. "I'm not using it in the Democratic partisan sense. I mean, it is an odd thing, totally unexpected. I think people should ask the question: Is he out of gas? I don't know. "
Watch below or at the link here.
- YouTube youtu.be
