The article explores concerns surrounding former President Donald Trump’s unfiltered campaign style as the 2024 election draws near. While he continues to appeal to his core supporters, some worry that his blunt rhetoric may turn off swing voters. Republican Kendra Ashwood suggests that Trump might gain broader appeal by softening his tone while still emphasizing traditional American values.
The piece examines recent rally speeches where Trump made controversial statements, including vulgar references to his political rival. Critics argue that such remarks tarnish his image and diminish the presidency. Although he has shown positive polling among Black and Hispanic voters, his provocative language risks alienating key demographics like educated voters, independents, and women, who could be crucial in determining the election’s outcome.
The article also contrasts Vice President Kamala Harris’s strategy, which focuses on courting undecided and moderate Republican voters. As Trump’s campaign style is central to his political identity, the question remains whether it will solidify his base or hinder his ability to win over essential swing voters in key states.
Trump’s brash rhetoric, which initially propelled him into the political spotlight in 2015, has only intensified as the 2024 election approaches.
While his supporters continue to embrace his unorthodox approach, others suggest that softening his tone might help him win over swing voters. Republican Kendra Ashwood from Kannapolis, North Carolina, believes Trump could “tone it down just a little.”
“I think he’s being a little too headstrong right now, which we all know he is. That’s great as a businessman, and that’s what this country needs, but we also need values,” said Ashwood, who attended Trump’s rally in Concord, North Carolina. “We need to come back to our core values of the United States of America, and I think he can get us back.”
At a Pennsylvania rally, Trump spent 12 minutes discussing local hero Arnold Palmer, making a comment about the golfer’s anatomy. He also claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping knows he’s “f* crazy” and referred to his Democratic opponent as a “s vice president.”
“Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women, and I love women, but this guy, this guy, this is a guy that was all man,” Trump said Sunday. “This man was strong and tough, and I refuse to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh my god, that’s unbelievable.’ I had to say it.”
The Harris campaign was already crafting messaging portraying 78-year-old Trump as unhinged and unstable, and his string of vulgar remarks only added more fuel to their argument.
“When he does speak at a rally, have you noticed he tends to go off script and ramble?” Harris said during a rally in Georgia. “And generally for the life of him cannot finish a thought. And he has called it ‘the weave.’ But I think we here will call it ‘nonsense.’ For these reasons and more, it is time to turn the page.”
Harris has criticized Trump’s behavior, claiming it demeans the presidency.
While it’s expected for Harris to argue that Trump is unfit for office, there is some evidence that his bold language might harm him with key voters.
Trump appears to be gaining traction with Black and Hispanic voters and is seeing a general polling boost, currently leading in all seven swing states according to the RealClearPolitics average. However, these leads are by less than 2 percentage points, and his language may risk alienating educated voters, independents, and women.
Republican Amy Koch, a former GOP majority leader in the Minnesota state senate, remains undecided this year.
“There are independents who are willing to say, ‘I don’t like the economy, don’t like what’s happening on immigration. I’m not sold on Harris as a president,’” she said. “They start flirting with the idea of Trump, and then he says something like this and they go ‘nevermind.’”
Koch has ruled out voting for Harris but remains undecided about Trump, and may not make her decision until she’s in the voting booth.
Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaigns are intensifying efforts to appeal to undecided voters. Advisers from both sides told the New York Times that younger voters, particularly Black and Latino, are the most up for grabs. Harris’s campaign also hopes to attract white, college-educated voters.
A key focus of Harris’s strategy includes appealing to moderate “Nikki Haley Republicans” and supporters of former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney.
“What Donald Trump represents is, in many ways, just cruel and not the kind of dignity and the kind of person that that we all want to be able to look up to,” Cheney said Monday during an appearance with Harris.
Trump responds by highlighting his progress with non-white voters, while his campaign has paid less attention to its standing with white voters.
In an article for National Review, conservative columnist Henry Olsen speculated that this shift may be because Harris has nearly doubled President Joe Biden’s 2020 support among college-educated white voters. These voters are also overrepresented in key Midwestern states that both campaigns must win to secure the White House.
The question for Trump’s campaign is whether his “unhinged” behavior is a strategic advantage or a liability. He’s won the GOP presidential nomination three times and is currently in his strongest polling position heading into a general election.
Koch acknowledges that Trump’s personality is a significant part of his political appeal. She would like to see more moments like his impromptu stop at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, where he humorously trolled Harris about her unverified claims of having worked there. This stop portrayed Trump as relatable and fun, an image that resonated with voters.
“I’d like to see more of that,” Koch said. “And less of rambling about things like Arnold Palmer’s junk.”
The Harris campaign aims to sow doubt among voters, questioning whether Trump’s behavior is just typical or a sign of mental decline. Harris has called on him to release his medical records and launched an ad on Sunday arguing that he’s unfit to serve as president.
Trump’s supporters, however, insist he’s perfectly fine, pointing out that Democrats never seemed concerned about President Joe Biden’s advanced age. They also argue that Harris is deflecting attention away from her own weaknesses.
