[RAY BOGAN]
The news media replayed the moment Donald Trump was almost assassinated over and over again. According to a Republican close to the Trump campaign, the former president has too.
“He’s been watching that seven-second clip of how close he was to getting shot right in the head—over and over and over again,” The Republican told Vanity Fair. “He may actually legit have PTSD.”
The Vanity Fair report went on to say, “Republican donors and Trump campaign officials are struggling to understand why Trump seems to be sabotaging his own candidacy. One theory, according to sources, is that Trump has been experiencing trauma from his near-death experience following the assassination attempt at the rally last month in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
Vanity Fair cited a frustrated Republican close to the campaign who said, “It’s like he’s choosing to lose.”
Leaders in the party are privately and publicly calling for Trump to make the race about policy and Vice President Harris’ record.
“I want this campaign to win, but the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. It’s not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is, it’s not going to win talking about whether she’s dumb,” Trump’s former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley told Fox. “You can’t win on those things. The American people are smart, treat them like they’re smart.”
“Stop questioning the size of her crowds and start questioning her position when it comes to what did she do as attorney general on crime! Question what did she do when she supposed to take care of the border as a czar,” Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox.
At a press conference Thursday, Trump doubled down when he was asked by a reporter about message discipline.
“I think I’m entitled to personal attacks,” Trump told reporters at a press conference Thursday. “I don’t have a lot of respect for her. I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence. And I think she’ll be a terrible president. And I think it’s very important that we win. And whether the personal attacks are good or bad, I mean, she certainly attacks me personally.”
Behind closed doors the message is the same. According to Vanity Fair, Trump told advisors who urged him to change his tactics – “I know what I’m doing.”