Republicans fret over Trump's self-inflicted blows at first debate
By Jonathan Easley and Morgan Chalfant - 09/30/20 01:17 PM EDT
Republicans say President Trump missed a golden opportunity to change the course of the presidential election at this week’s debate, heightening pressure on the incumbent to radically alter his strategy and style in the final stretch to appeal to the independents and women he'll need to win over if he hopes to secure a second term.
They say the game-changing moments were there for the taking but Trump's aggressive posturing got the best of him. The debate effectively collapsed around Trump’s crosstalk, which was a huge turnoff to many viewers at a time when the president is desperately trying to make up ground in key battleground states.
That’s deeply frustrating for Republicans, who believe Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would have looked rambling and been prone to more mistakes if Trump would only have allowed him to carry on.
Instead, with only 34 days to go before the election, the president is dealing with yet another racial controversy over his refusal to condemn white supremacists on the biggest stage imaginable.
The president will campaign in Minnesota on Wednesday night as he seeks to rebound. The North Star State is one of a handful carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016 that the Trump campaign hopes to flip in 2020.
But Minnesota Republicans say the president’s best opportunity to keep the pressure on Biden in the traditionally blue state may have slipped through his fingers amid the shouting and name-calling at Tuesday night’s debate.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/518968-republicans-fret-over-trumps-self-inflicted-blows-at-first-debate