Trump's summer bump
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🎯 It's hard to imagine a better week of news for Donald Trump — a positive new poll, followed by President Biden's disastrous debate performance and a Supreme Court ruling that's likely to delay the former president's trial on charges he tried to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
- 🌊 Trump gets to ride the wave into a critical phase of his campaign with the Republican National Convention meeting in two weeks, while Democrats publicly question whether they're backing the wrong candidate.
🗳️ If Trump wins the Nov. 5 election, analysts might point to the last several days as the moment the tide turned. At the very least, it's the low point of Biden's campaign. Here's a recap:
- 📈 Wednesday, the latest New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump with his biggest lead yet over Biden among likely voters — despite Trump's May 30 felony conviction. The Times noted the poll was an outlier.
- Thursday, Biden had what might be the most disastrous political moment of his career, struggling through the 90-minute debate. Trump largely kept his cool but spewed misinformation — and went largely unchecked while doing so.
- It fueled a weekend of wall-to-wall coverage of a dismayed Democratic Party and speculation over whether the president could be persuaded to withdraw from the race.
- ⚖️ On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that could provide a clearer path for a potential second Trump administration to quickly reverse Biden's climate and other regulatory policies.
- And this morning, the court ruled 6-3 that presidents have immunity for official acts — providing Trump cover for some of the criminal charges he still faces and all but guaranteeing that his Jan. 6 case won't go to trial before the election.
What they're saying: "We've certainly had a strong week," Trump spokesperson Danielle Alvarez told Axios.
- "Democrats are descending into total chaos while the Republican Party is united behind President Donald Trump headed into the fall," National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.) told Axios in a statement.
- Trump called the ruling a vindication, posting on Truth Social: "The Supreme Court totally dismantled most of the charges against me. Joe Biden should now call off his dogs."
The other side: Democrats admit it hasn't been a great few days for Biden but argue it wasn't a particularly winning time for Trump either.
- 💵 The campaign has touted Thursday's debate day as its best grassroots fundraising day, and is trying to use today's ruling to focus voters' attention on Trump's role in the Jan. 6 attack and the potential for him to have unfettered powers if he's re-elected.
- "Donald Trump did not have a good debate night either. Voters didn't like what they saw from him," Biden campaign pollster Molly Murphy told MSNBC.
- Since the debate, Trump "has taken his unhinged tirades to social media, radio, and rally stages" and is "doubling down on threats to our democracy," campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa told Axios in a statement.
