NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump likes the spotlight.
But since President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, the presumptive Republican nominee has remained in the background. The focus has now shifted to the drama that lies ahead for the Democratic Party as he and his campaign rack up a series of legal and political victories heading into the Republican National Convention this month.
Trump’s campaign kicked off last week during the first debate, when Biden delivered such a dismal performance that he has since had to fend off calls from worried Democrats to step aside to save the party from losses at all levels of the ballot box.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, limiting charges against Trump for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. It is all but certain he will not stand trial before Election Day.
And on Tuesday, the judge in Trump’s New York criminal case, in which he was accused of paying hush money, postponed his sentencing to assess the impact of the Supreme Court ruling.
The flood of good news — coupled with a fundraising boom that wiped out Biden’s considerable cash advantage — has given Trump and his team reason to celebrate as they head into this month’s convention. And it has frustrated Biden supporters who would rather focus on Trump’s sweeping second-term agenda and comments he made during the debate in which he downplayed the Capitol riot and suggested he might not accept the results of this election either.
Instead of taking a victory lap, Trump is keeping a low profile. Although he sat for several radio interviews this weekend and has been active on his Truth Social site, he has no public events scheduled this week.
That’s partly a function of the calendar, with the Fourth of July falling on a Thursday. But Trump’s team, acknowledging that Biden’s campaign is under intense pressure, is perfectly content to keep the focus on the sitting president, according to people familiar with the strategy who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the campaign’s thinking.
Brendan Buck, a Republican strategist who is not a Trump supporter, praised the former president for what he called an “unusually disciplined” response to the debate and for “letting Biden roll with the punches.”
But he said there are still challenges for the former president as he seeks a second term.
“Trump remains an incredibly vulnerable, bad candidate. And that makes this all so much worse,” he said of the debate debacle. “I think Donald Trump is still very capable of screwing this up.”
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said: “In a few weeks, a united and enthusiastic Republican Party will formally nominate President Trump, at which time he will select America’s next vice president from an impressive field of elected officials and business leaders, all of whom will be vast improvements on the current vice president.”
“Team Trump will build on the momentum President Trump has built to grow our movement, raise the money we need to win, and enter the fall with a historic victory,” she added.
Recent events could also affect the timing of Trump’s vice presidential nomination, an announcement that will undoubtedly generate a great deal of attention and a flood of stories about his chosen candidate’s record and past statements.
Campaign officials have repeatedly said Trump will announce his choice when he is ready, but still caution that the announcement could happen at any time.
But some allies think he will now wait.
“Donald Trump has a hot hand. He’s playing his hand perfectly,” said Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, who traveled with him to the June 27 debate and is now a senior adviser to the convention. Given the current situation, Lewandowski said, there’s “no reason to announce something and take media attention away from Joe Biden.”
Although the election is still months away, Lewandowski argues that Trump is now in a stronger position than during his previous campaigns.
“All of these things are indications that the campaign wants to keep its foot on the gas pedal and keep the pressure on the Biden campaign,” he said.
Meanwhile, aides are cheering the Biden campaign’s troubles. Steven Cheung, Trump’s top spokesman, called into a Biden campaign media call Monday to respond to the Supreme Court ruling and mocked the campaign on social media for allowing him to do so.
On Tuesday, Cheung joked that he would interrupt a White House phone call.
Biden and his allies, meanwhile, have tried to shift the focus back to Trump. They have noted that Trump again downplayed the violence of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol during the debate and refused to condemn those who attacked police officers and stormed the building, smashing doors and windows.
Trump also repeatedly refused to state unequivocally that he would accept the results of the November election, saying he would do so only “if it is a fair, legal, good election.” There is no reason to think that won’t be the case, even though Trump has spent years spreading false fears about election fraud.
Democrats have also drawn attention to Trump’s comment that migrants entering the U.S. illegally are taking “black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs,” claiming Trump is insulting people of color.
And Biden and his allies have warned about the implications of the Supreme Court ruling that declared Trump immune from prosecution for key moments cited in the Jan. 6 indictment. They have cited Trump’s past comments that he would be a “dictator” on his first day in office and his threats to prosecute political enemies.
Over the weekend, Trump shared several posts on his Truth Social network that reflected his long-simmering grievances and threatened political retribution. One post suggested that former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican critic, was “guilty of treason” and asked his supporters to share it if they wanted “televised military tribunals.” Another post included photos of Biden and other senior Democratic and Republican officials and suggested they should be jailed.
“Trump now has the cover he needs to imprison and assassinate his opponents, order the military to overturn a free and fair election, and accept money in bribes for pardons — with full immunity,” Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa charged in a statement. “This November, voters must stop Trump from turning the Oval Office into his throne room.”
Trump has a long history of turning events that would be devastating and career-ending for others into campaign fuel.
Despite being charged four times and convicted 34 times for falsifying corporate records, his trial and conviction appear to have had little impact on his standing in the polls. Instead, they have helped him raise millions of dollars.
His campaign announced Tuesday that Biden raised more money in the second quarter of the year, with a reported $331 million raised.
In a sign of how Trump’s opponents feel about the state of the race, Buck, the Republican strategist, warned that the former president could be in trouble if the debate aftermath somehow knocks Biden out of the race, though that currently seems unlikely. Trump could then face a fresher face who is potentially more energetic and a better campaigner than Biden.
“This happy week could also turn unhappy,” Buck said, “if it means Biden withdraws.”
