Donald Trump tried to remain focused on the issues during an awkward campaign stop at a Pennsylvania factory while Democrats rallied around Kamala Harris in Chicago, and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said the gap between the two campaigns was widening.
The former president appeared at a manufacturing facility in York specializing in defense and nuclear industries a month after the Republican convention, and the "Morning Joe" host feels momentum continuing to build for Harris as Trump's stalls.
"When [former GOP strategist] Mike Murphy and I were Republicans, Republicans hated losing," Scarborough said. "Somebody lost, boom, they were gone. Nothing personal, let's move forward and figure out how to win. You know, Mike, I was with you in Denver – we were – we were sitting next to each other at the end of Barack Obama's speech [in 2008], and you turned to me and you said, 'Houston, we have a problem.' I think Republicans may have another problem this year."
Harris made a surprise appearance before a raucous crowd on Monday's opening night, and Scarborough contrasted that to Trump's event before a couple hundred supporters at the factory.
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"An extraordinarily energized crowd and extraordinarily energized party from people that you talk to day in and day out, and on the other side, you have Donald Trump, who is ignoring the pleas of people in his own party, leaders in his own party, people on Fox News, to be more positive," Scarborough said. "Yesterday shot from wherever he was, where was that? Where was trump yesterday? Looked like a hostage video, very strange."
Murphy, the veteran political strategist and longtime Trump critic, said the biggest problem for Republicans is that their nominee has shrunk the party down to himself.
"You know, Trump is a one-man band, and what you feel here is the energy of a united army that has decided to adopt the Chicago way, bringing guns to a knife fight – they're here to win," Murphy said. "Even last night, traditionally the first night in these conventions is chore night, you're doing the things you have to do, not necessarily the stuff that sells the big message. I thought they executed pretty well. You know, I don't think their political managers are excited about a lot of Hillary Clinton, but she gave one of the best Hillary Clinton speeches I've ever seen. Even on the night [with] the stuff we have to get through, I thought for the most part they did really, really well. Today will be the big gear shift to the message they really want to focus on, which is future versus past, and connecting Kamala Harris to middle-class economics to try to push that part of the Biden legacy off her, because that's the last advantage Donald Trump has."
"Being a one-man band, he's not really running that campaign," Murphy added. "He's running this therapy campaign where he gets in front much a crowd and melts down, not helpful."
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