August 04, 2016, 09:09 am
Top Trump aide: Poll numbers will even out
By Jesse Byrnes
Donald Trump's campaign chief says polls showing the GOP presidential nominee slipping were "expected," predicting they even out this month.
"We feel like in another week or so the polls are going to even out," Paul Manafort said Thursday on "CBS This Morning," adding that "we had a bounce, we knew the Democrats would have a bounce."
"In two weeks, we think that's going to even out if we're out there on our message, which we will be," he added. "We don't plan on winning in August. We plan on winning in November."
Hillary Clinton has led Trump in each of the past 10 national polls of the presidential race tracked by RealClearPolitics, with several giving her a seven-point bounce after the Democratic convention last week.
Trump has faced a political firestorm in recent days. He has repeatedly criticized the family of a Muslim American fallen soldier and declined to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Republicans are urging him to focus on Clinton instead of rehashing issues raised during the GOP primary or swiping at fellow Republicans.
Manafort insisted that "there's plenty of time" for Trump to regain his footing in the race and argued the campaign would be aggressively campaigning this month, saying the campaign was "comfortable about where we are organizationally."
"What we’re not comfortable with is the narrative that the media seems to be taking, which is building a story line that the Democrats are controlling the race," he said.
Manafort also downplayed Trump earlier this week refusing to endorse Ryan in his primary race.
"He's going to support Paul Ryan, he does support Paul Ryan. He said he's going to work with Paul Ryan. There's no issue about that," Manafort said.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/290364-trump-campaign-chief-poll-numbers-will-even-out
