The Trump campaign is increasingly venturing into hostile territory.
The strategy, I am told, is to demonstrate that the former president can defend his arguments in Democratic areas and force the Biden campaign to act on the defensive.
But it's deeper than that.
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By campaigning where he would not normally be welcome, Donald Trump sends the message that he is a fighter, particularly during the weeklong recess of the hush money trial, which resumed yesterday with closing arguments. A conviction in that criminal trial, of course, could alter the playing field.
Exhibit A in Trump's new playbook was a visit to the South Bronx, a preeminent symbol of urban decay. It wasn't because he believes he can win the Bronx, New York City or New York State. Trump was going to send a message that he cares about minority voters.
He drew a couple thousand fans to a park where he mostly recited his greatest hits, including 10 minutes about how he rebuilt an ice skating rink in Central Park decades ago, complete with construction details. But he also said that he would rebuild the city. Polls show Trump doing better among blacks than any Republican candidate in more than a generation, while Joe Biden has been losing ground among that crucial electorate for Democrats.
Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx on May 23, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Going to the Bronx, where Trump, a Queens native, attended two years of college, was a curveball. And as some liberals criticized the wealthy Republican for venturing into his territory, the controversy fueled the news cycle for days, a Trump specialty.
The former president also spoke at a massive rally along the New Jersey shore, another state he won't win, and went to the blue state of Minnesota, which he would win only if the election is a landslide.
I don't think the Biden camp is going to fall for these falsifications. The president needs to focus on Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where he is just a few points behind in most polls, to achieve an Electoral College victory. Scranton Joe has all but settled in Pennsylvania, which is close to Delaware, and yet he is still slightly behind in most battleground polls. He and Kamala Harris are back in Philadelphia today.
Perhaps the clearest sign of Trump's unorthodox approach is his weekend speech at the Libertarian convention. This was widely portrayed as a disaster, as Trump was widely booed during his appearance.
He made some promises, such as appointing a libertarian to the cabinet and pardoning a libertarian who ran an illegal online drug market.
But the boos grew louder when he called for the party's nomination. Libertarians have long criticized Trump's record.
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Trump argued that together they could win. As the boos continued, he responded: Maybe you don't want to win. You can still get 3 percent in every election.
Trump argued the next day that, as a Republican candidate, he was not allowed to seek another party's nomination, even though he had just done exactly that.
While many see the entire episode as a fiasco, I have a contrary opinion.
Supporters of Donald Trump try to catch a glimpse of the former president at a rally in Crotona Park in the Bronx, New York, on May 23, 2024. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
Trump showed a willingness to get into the lions' den. He stood his ground in the face of the boos. He showed off his pugilistic style in the face of what he must have known would be an unfriendly reception.
That's quite a contrast to Biden's confident economic speeches, based largely on previous laws, to confident audiences.
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Now attention turns to the hush money trial, which the jury will hear today.
