After surviving a suspected second assassination attempt on Sunday, former President Donald Trump has endured a week of bad news for his presidential reelection campaign.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign likely received a boost on Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve cut the benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point, the first reduction since 2020 and an indication of a “soft landing” for the economy.
The Trump campaign had pushed the notion of a “Kamala crash” as recently as last month, when the stock market dipped very briefly following a weaker-than-expected jobs report. The market recovered days later.
The stock market on Thursday closed at an all-time high, undermining messaging from Trump and other Republicans who have insisted that President Joe Biden and Harris have “destroyed” the economy.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP
Also on Thursday, a scandal erupted after CNN reported that Trump-endorsed Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson previously described himself as a “black NAZI” and advocated for a return to slavery on a pornography website. Messages tied to Robinson on the site also expressed his proclivity for “tranny on girl” porn.
Robinson has refused to drop out of the race, potentially harming Trump’s hopes of winning the Tar Heel State, which is considered a battleground this year despite leaning Republican in recent election cycles.
Additionally, a Michigan judge ruled on Wednesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed Trump last month, will remain on the swing state’s ballot regardless of his concerns about being a “spoiler.”
Trump’s demand for House Republicans to only pass a government funding bill if it includes a law that would add hurdles to the process of registering to vote, potentially leading to a government shutdown October 1, also appeared to fall on deaf ears this week.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s attempt to pass the Trump-backed continuing resolution was rejected on Wednesday despite Republicans controlling the chamber. The resolution was nearly certain to be rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate and Biden.
Election polling did not offer any better news for the former president, with polls this week largely showing him losing ground to Harris in the aftermath of what most viewed as a weak performance by Trump in last week’s presidential debate.
National election surveys from Florida Atlantic University and The Economist/YouGov both show the vice president with her biggest-ever lead over Trump in recent days.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump campaign via email on Thursday.
The former president did receive at least one piece of welcomed news this week when the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which has backed Democratic presidential candidates for decades, declined to endorse either candidate in this year’s election.
Nearly every other major U.S. labor union has endorsed the Harris campaign, as have dozens of individual chapters and councils of the Teamsters.
Trump also received an outpouring of support from both sides of the political aisle following the suspected assassination attempt on Sunday, with Harris and Biden both condemning the incident alongside Republicans.