"We Have to Be Prepared for Trump Losing": As Chaos Engulfs Trump Campaign, Ingraham, Other Loyalists Look For the Next Thing

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Trump's COVID bungling and ugly rhetoric are baked in—and against all advice, he's thinking of commuting Roger Stone's sentence. A campaign shake-up is still on the table—but can anything help?

By Gabriel Sherman

July 8, 2020 Pete Marovich/Getty Images.

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A couple of weeks ago, Roger Ailes's widow, Elizabeth, invited Fox News host Laura Ingraham and a few others for dinner at her $36 million Palm Beach home. The political conversation around the table was melancholy, a person familiar with the gathering recalled. With COVID cases hitting record highs and Donald Trump 's poll numbers going in the opposite direction, guests agreed that Trump is probably incapable, or unwilling, to take steps to turn things around. "We have to be prepared for Trump losing," Ingraham told her dinner companions, according to the source. Perhaps anticipating that Fox News could pivot in a post-Trump media environment, Ingraham said she's been in talks to take over for Rush Limbaugh, who recently revealed his Stage 4 lung cancer might force him off the radio. "Laura's really interested in Rush's job," a person close to Ingraham said. (Ingraham did not respond to a request for comment.)

In the days since the Palm Beach dinner, Trump's political standing has slipped further. On Tuesday, Trump's favorite pollster, Scott Rasmussen, released a poll showing Trump at 39% approval, the lowest number Rasmussen has ever recorded for Trump. Trump's popularity among Republicans dropped four points since mid-June, to 80%. The dismal polling is one reason why visible cracks in Trump's Republican firewall are increasing. Staunch Trump ally Lindsey Graham, facing a tough reelection, broke with Trump this week over the president's Twitter attack on Black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace and Trump's defense of the Confederate flag. Yesterday aides to Senators Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski said the three senators would not be attending the Republican convention next month in Jacksonville (if the convention even takes place, as Trump has backed away from his plan to deliver an indoor convention speech in front of 15,000 people).

At a moment when he needs to calm restive Republicans, Trump may antagonize them further by commuting Roger Stone 's 40-month sentence. According to sources, Trump has told people he wants to commute Stone's sentence before Stone reports to prison on July 14. Rumors swirled over the weekend that Trump would announce it on Sunday night. Sources say the West Wing is at war over a possible Stone commutation. White House counsel Pat Cipollone is against the move, and even Attorney General Bill Barr is opposed. "Barr has told Trump not to do it, and if he does there will be a mutiny at DOJ," said a source briefed on the internal debates. People close to Trump fear he won't listen. "You can't underestimate how hard it is to get information through to him," a Republican close to the White House said. "When you talk to him, he just talks at you. He doesn't like to read memos, so there's not really a way to get through to him. Everyone agrees." (The White House declined to comment.)

Meanwhile, Trump continues to discuss shaking up his campaign. According to a source, former Ted Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe is in talks to join the campaign as a strategic adviser, effectively taking over for embattled campaign manager Brad Parscale. A source said Parscale has threatened to resign if Roe joins. (Parscale did not respond to a request for comment.) Some question the wisdom of bringing on Roe. "Jeff Roe is a religious-right guy. That's not what Trump needs. He needs someone to go broad," a prominent Republican said.

Another option that's been discussed is for Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to go over to the campaign full-time in the same way Ronald Reagan's chief of staff James Baker left the West Wing to run Reagan's '84 campaign. A source told me Kushner has said he's not interested. "If I go to the campaign, Trump might not let me back into the White House," Kushner told people, according to a person briefed on the conversation. "As of now, he intends to remain in his current role," an administration official said.