In a conference call with surrogates
Wednesday afternoon, Trump aides made clear the Republican nominee is
upset that his allies publicly acknowledged they pushed him to change
his preparation and tactics before his next bout with Hillary Clinton.
And he wants them to stop it immediately.
The message was "not subtle," a source familiar with the call said.
Trump wants his supporters to make an energetic defense of his performance and refuse to concede that he didn't nail it.
Trump's
team told surrogates to say that Trump successfully reinforced his
outsider status, contrasting him with Clinton as a status quo candidate,
and to zero in on one-liners that they saw as successful --
particularly his repeated line that Clinton has been in public life
nearly 30 years with little to show for it.
The meaning of Trump's overnight tweetstorm, on The Daily David Chalian
The pushback comes amid reports that
advisers hoped Trump's missteps against Clinton in the first debate
would convince the Republican nominee to concentrate on his message and
tactics before they debate again. Aides had said Tuesday and earlier
Wednesday that they have delivered the message (gingerly, one said) that
the first debate didn't go well.
"Yes, he's been made aware," one adviser said.
The campaign emailed a survey to
supporters late Wednesday seeking "immediate feedback from the first
debate in order to win the second one."
Aides
and advisers hoped Trump's refusal to participate in traditional debate
preparation sessions -- instead favoring the impromptu, off-the-cuff
approach that helped him through the GOP primaries -- might be eased
after Monday night.
One ally described Trump as the kind of guy who can't simply be told a stove is hot -- he has to touch it to see for himself.
Another
adviser said because of that reality, Monday's poor performance could
be the best thing that could have happened to Trump.
Trump, advisers said, had lines ready to hit back at predictable Clinton attacks.
"He
just didn't use them," an adviser said. "Nobody is really sure why, but
we're all certain he won't let opportunities pass next time around."
Ahead
of their October 9 town hall style debate in St. Louis, part of the
problem, one source said, is that Trump doesn't yet seem to grasp that
he needs to expand his base of supporters to bring in new voters who are
not yet sold on his temperament, policy positions or readiness to be
president.
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