On CBS, Former Romney Adviser Says Trump's Campaign Is Not “Functional” Or “Well-Organized By Any Metric”
Dan Senor: “This Is The Opposite Of Party Unity”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
From the August 4 edition of CBS' CBS This Morning:
CHARLIE ROSE (CO-HOST): Tell me what series of events could put Donald Trump in a point of no return? Are we headed for that moment?
DAN SENOR: Well, look, if he continues week after week attacking people who are not conventional political adversaries -- Mike Bloomberg delivers a speech at the convention in Philadelphia against Trump, Trump punches back at him, calls him “Little Mike.” That’s sort of normal politics. When he’s punching at people like the Khan family, when he’s punching at people like Judge Curiel, I think you'll start to see that week after week where the Clinton campaign baits him with these figures that look much more like victims and he’s sort of punching down. That will continue to create inflection points. And then I think the effect of that is we will see Trump's polling come down, which we are already starting to see. And you will see -- he had a good fundraising month, but I don't think it's sustainable if he's continuing to behave and perform like he is. You'll see fundraising will take a hit. If by Labor Day his poll numbers are substantially down and money for the campaign and funds for the RNC are drying up, I think you could see real panic set in.
GAYLE KING (CO-HOST): Yeah Dan, yesterday, he said, “Our campaign is more united than ever before.” There are reports that people want to have an intervention for him. Prominent GOP leaders are defecting from his campaign. How do you describe this? How do you describe it that they can sit there and say everything is just fine?
SENOR: They've also said, you know, that the NFL sent them a letter about the debates which wasn't true.
KING: That Paul Ryan asked for his endorsement?
SENOR: They said Paul Ryan asked for his endorsement which is flatly not true. No request was made. I mean, I just think he has a tendency to assert things that are not true and he hopes there is a flurry that the media just can't keep up with all of them. Anyone who argues this is a functional campaign that is well-organized by any metric, Republican campaigns, Democratic campaigns, nobody has ever seen anything like this. It is a one-man band. It is not a real campaign.
NORAH O'DONNELL (CO-HOST): We know the Hillary Clinton campaign is courting GOP defections. What are you hearing in terms of Republicans that are jumping ship?
SENOR: There is more of them. We just had Meg Whitman a couple of days ago, which is big. Just this morning, we learned that Seth Klarman -- who's a major person in the finance world who's raised a lot of money in the Northeast for Republicans -- he came out and he's not only not going to be for Trump -- it's one thing never to be never Trump -- but he is actually going to help Hillary Clinton assertively. I think you're going to see more and more people, I'm hearing of others, who are contemplating it and I think they'll be coming out over the next few weeks.
ROSE: What is amazing to me is their most powerful Republican in the country, the speaker of the house, he doesn't endorse him.
SENOR: Yeah. No, and by the way Paul Ryan said two things to Donald Trump. One, I will endorse you, but I will speak out when you say things that are offensive. But I will try to unite the party. If you look at the speech Paul Ryan gave at the Republican convention he named Trump's name more than one. His message was about party unity. So that is what Paul Ryan was trying to accomplish. In return, Trump basically punches him. This is the opposite of party unity. And this isn't March or April. This is August. We have less than 100 days.
Previously:
Fox's Kilmeade: Trump Made A “Terrible Move” By Not Endorsing Paul Ryan In His Primary Race
Trump Ally Roger Stone Accused Paul Ryan Of Secretly Working For Hillary Clinton