Donald Trump’s surrogates are some of the most dedicated in the business. From the beginning, Trump has surrounded himself with stalwart supporters who are working diligently to get him to the White House.
But as time — and the campaign — presses on, Trump’s go-it-alone approach against Hillary Clinton has left his friends sometimes veering off message. Whether Trump is bringing up a three-day-old Tweet or praising the likes of Saddam Hussein, even the most ardent surrogates, like Mike Huckabee, are left struggling.
Wednesday night on Fox News‘s Varney & Company, Huckabee tried to defend Trump’s controversial “Star of David” attack on Hillary Clinton but ended up begging the candidate to start, instead, laying into his opponent when she’s most vulnerable.
“He’s talking a lot about what’s happening to him,” Huckabee told the host. “And frankly, people don’t care. They want to hear about what’s happening to them…People aren’t voting for Donald Trump because they think he‘s getting the short end of the stick.”
Huckabee went on to bemoan Trump’s single-minded focus on his own public relations, blaming Trump’s love of consuming media for his inability to capitalize on Hillary Clinton’s misery.
And then there’s Trump surrogate Dr. Ben Carson, who just a month ago was happily stumping for the man who once likened him to a child molester. On Tuesday, Carson appeared to draw the line at Trump’s alleged “Star of David” Tweet, which the Republican candidate’s team is accused of stealing from a white supremacist message board.
Social media provides a great platform for discourse, but we must be careful with the messages we send out.
— Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) July 5, 2016
Carson’s longtime adviser issued a statement doubling down on Carson’s criticism saying, “We would never do that from [Dr. Carson’s] account because we know that he has a platform and we must take care of that platform and be wise with the messages he disseminates.”
This all comes hot on the heels of Trump surrogate (and potential Vice Presidential pick) Newt Gingrich’s commentary on Trump’s media strategy. Just last month, as Donald Trump was haranguing rally-goers with tales of his Trump University difficulties, Gingrich stepped in to warn Trump off public criticism of the Trump University judge. Gingrich called Trump’s remarks about the Judge’s “Mexican” heritage “inexcusable” and “a mistake.”
And even as Trump’s supporters struggle to defend some of his recent steps, he’s not making that many new friends among GOP lawmakers. On Capitol Hill Thursday, Trump reportedly locked horns with several Senators who have refused to endorse him, threatening to attack Senator Jeff Flake and “light up” Sen. Mark Kirk from Illinois, and confronting Sen. Ben Sasse, among a handful of others who showed up for the meeting. A good number of Republicans reportedly had “scheduling conflicts.”
As Trump’s potential Vice Presidential list dwindles and his surrogates falter, the Trump campaign may soon face a crossroads: make significant changes to bring in the bulk of the Republican Party or risk standing alone.
