Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) is expressing concern about President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
Thune sounded off about The New York Times/Siena College survey as he stressed the importance of Trump considering a change in strategy. The poll projects Biden winning 50% of registered voters while Trump has 36%.
During a brief discussion with reporters at the Capitol Wednesday, Thune expressed the need for an emphasis on independent voters as he described the president’s support from those voters as “soft,” according to NBC News.
Thune also suggested that a “different tone” might help the president to win back those voters.
“Right now, obviously, Trump has a problem with the middle of the electorate, with independents, and they’re the people who are undecided in national elections,” Thune said. “I think he can win those back, but it’ll probably require not only a message that deals with substance and policy but, I think, a message that conveys, perhaps, a different tone.”
When asked if the latest poll results would serve as a wake-up call for the president, Thune responded, “It’s a message that there needs to be a — certainly a change in probably strategy as far as the White House’s messaging is concerned.”
The Times/Sienna poll follows a string of reports about the uncertainties ahead of the general election. For the vast majority of the year, Trump has faced opposition.
From the impeachment trial to the coronavirus pandemic and most recently the protests over police brutality and racial inequality, the president has faced challenges. Like Thune, some other Republican lawmakers have also urged the president to consider a change in his rhetoric.
However, Trump continues to stand by his beliefs. When asked about his remarks on slowing down coronavirus testing, Trump doubled down in defense of his remarks, saying, “I don’t kid.”
Where protesters are concerned, the president has repeatedly touted “law and order.”
