The Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for his dysfunctional campaign, writing, “he needs to stop blaming everyone else and decide if he wants to behave like someone who wants to be President.” The board also slammed him for “lash[ing] out at the media” for highlighting his campaign troubles, noting that “The latest stories comport with what we also hear from sources close to the Trump campaign.”

In recent weeks, Trump has attacked a Gold Star family and suggested that “Second Amendment people” could do something about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s judicial nominees if she is elected president. He also falsely labled both Clinton and President Obama as the “founders” of ISIS and suggested that the upcoming election will be “rigged.” Media reported these statements -- all of which were roundly condemned -- as well as other stories about the state of Trump’s campaign, prompting Trump to lash out at the press. After The New York Times wrote an August 14 article headlined “Inside the Failing Mission to Tame Donald Trump’s Tongue,” Trump said at a campaign rally that the Times “is going to hell” and threatened to revoke its press credentials.

In an August 14 editorial, the Journal's editorial board wrote that Trump “has alienated his party" and that "he isn’t running a competent campaign.” The board slammed the candidate, writing that “by now it should be obvious that none of [his campaign approach] is working” and that “If they can’t get Mr. Trump to change his act by Labor Day, the GOP will have no choice but to write off the nominee as hopeless and focus on salvaging the Senate and House.” From the editorial:

Donald Trump lashed out at the media on Sunday after more stories describing dysfunction inside his presidential campaign. “If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn’t put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%,” Mr. Trump averred on Twitter.

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The latest stories comport with what we also hear from sources close to the Trump campaign. Mr. Trump’s advisers and his family want the candidate to deliver a consistent message making the case for change. They’d like him to be disciplined. They want him to focus on growing the economy and raising incomes and fighting terrorism.

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Is that so hard? Apparently so. Mr. Trump prefers to watch the cable shows rather than read a briefing paper. He thinks the same shoot-from-the-lip style that won over a plurality of GOP primary voters can persuade other Republicans and independents who worry if he has the temperament to be Commander in Chief.

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By now it should be obvious that none of this is working. It’s obvious to many of his advisers, who are the sources for the news stories about dysfunction. They may be covering for themselves, but this is what happens in failing campaigns. The difference is that the recriminations typically start in October, not mid-August.

These stories are appearing now because the polls show that Mr. Trump is on the path to losing a winnable race. He is now losing in every key battleground state, some like New Hampshire by double digits. The Midwest industrial states he claimed he would put into play—Wisconsin, Pennsylvania—have turned sharply toward Mrs. Clinton.

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Mr. Trump has alienated his party and he isn’t running a competent campaign. Mrs. Clinton is the second most unpopular presidential nominee in history—after Mr. Trump. But rather than reassure voters and try to repair his image, the New Yorker has spent the last three weeks giving his critics more ammunition.

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Those who sold Mr. Trump to GOP voters as the man who could defeat Hillary Clinton now face a moment of truth. Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Paul Manafort and the talk-radio right told Republicans their man could rise to the occasion.

If they can’t get Mr. Trump to change his act by Labor Day, the GOP will have no choice but to write off the nominee as hopeless and focus on salvaging the Senate and House and other down-ballot races. As for Mr. Trump, he needs to stop blaming everyone else and decide if he wants to behave like someone who wants to be President—or turn the nomination over to Mike Pence.