Maggie Haberman Exposes Donald Trump’s Cynical New Tactic – HuffPost
Reporter, HuffPost
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman on Thursday highlighted what she believes is a new tactic from Donald Trump that the former president deployed during his Fox News town hall.
During Wednesday’s televised event, Trump moderated his tone on key issues such as abortion, denied he’d be (as he has previously vowed) a dictator on “day one” if he wins back the White House — and also said he wouldn’t have time for retribution.
“This is a Trump who is […] starting to look at a general election and trying to grapple with his own comments and frankly his own past behavior that his aides are concerned about,” Haberman said on CNN.
The Republican 2024 front-runner’s bombastic and threatening rhetoric — such as boasting to supporters that he’d be their retribution if he wins the 2024 election — is “not helpful to him in a general election,” Haberman continued.
“And so you’re seeing him trying to shift in terms of a general election electorate. Whether that will be successful is an open question, but I think last night was the beginning of him trying to make a turn,” she said.
Asked whether Trump could sustain his moderated rhetoric, Haberman acknowledged his “very long history of bucking his advisors” but said, “When his back is against the wall, he can actually be much more disciplined.”
Haberman added, “Everyone has seen that if you underestimate Trump, it’s probably unwise, right? It doesn’t mean that he will win. It doesn’t mean that he does not have enormous general election liabilities. But he has been able to shapeshift and appear to be different things to different people in ways that we have rarely seen a political figure on this large a stage do. Will it be effective? I don’t know, but it could be.”
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