Daily Beast: Trump’s 11th Hour Campaign Gambit–Give Voters Cash

I spoke to Sam Stein of the Daily Beast about President Trump’s late-breaking embrace of spending as a political tool, what took hum so long, and whether it comes in time to matter.

“It’s a real head scratcher, and one we’ll look back on as a huge mistake,” said GOP strategist Liam Donovan. “I think embracing the populist (and popular) part of the vision he was elected on could have mattered, but we’re well past the point where these desperation heaves can change the trajectory of the race.”

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NBC News: GOP consultants say Trump’s threat to skip the debate is foolhardy

I spoke to NBC NewsAlex Seitz-Wald about the President’s decision to forgo the second debate after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that it would switch to a virtual format.

“The president’s threat to walk away from a virtual debate is a power move that seems almost certain to backfire,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist.

“This debate may be the last best opportunity to score a game-changing moment or otherwise hope to impact the trajectory of this race before it’s too late,” he added. “It’s also one of the few remaining speed bumps for Vice President Biden, and Trump would be doing Joe a real favor by letting him off the hook.”

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MarketWatch: Amid ruins of stimulus talks, Trump, Pelosi and McConnell trade blame

I spoke to Jonathan Nicholson for his MarketWatch piece on the apparent sputtering of COVID relief negotiations in the wake of President Trump’s abrupt announcement that he was walking away from the table.

Liam Donovan, principal with Bracewell LLP’s Policy Resolution Group, said the White House’s lack of focus helped sink the talks.

“The apathy and ambivalence from the White House made for a leadership vacuum that sent GOP members scattering in every direction depending on their individual political calculations. Republicans didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory here, but in the end Donald Trump owns this failure because he had everything to gain, and nothing to lose, ideologically or otherwise. In that sense, the tweet was a fitting coda,” he said in an email.


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