I spoke to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times about President Trump’s often clumsy efforts to articulate what Republicans believe.

Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist and former National Republican Senatorial Committee aide, said that Mr. Trump’s “preternatural ability to sniff out and tap into what Republicans hate” got him to the Oval Office.

“His intimate connection with the base is one of shared grievance,” Mr. Donovan said. “But when it comes to what they’re for, it inevitably comes off like a cartoon version of what a New York billionaire would think conservatives believe.”

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to Allan Smith from NBC News about the return of sports and what impact it might have on President Trump’s re-election hopes.

Should the restart of sports crash and burn, “that will be a visible national signal as to how the public health crisis is going,” Liam Donovan, a former Republican aide, told NBC News.

With presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden enjoying a significant lead in the polls over Trump both nationally and in key swing states, even a seamless reboot of sports may not be enough to save his faltering campaign.

“I don’t know that having the World Series is enough for President Trump to feel good about the election, but to suspend the season (again) after bringing the players back would be a terrible omen,” he said.

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to Allan Smith from NBC News about the Trump campaign’s kitchen sink strategy toward Biden, and why none of these angles have gotten any real traction to date.

Read the full piece here.