Trump set to officially launch 2020 campaign during Florida rally
President Trump is officially launching his 2020 reelection campaign on Tuesday night in Orlando, Florida — one of the swing states that fueled his poll-defying victory in 2016.
The rally in Central Florida — which is slated to start at 8 p.m. ET — follows the abrupt ouster of several pollsters in Mr. Trump’s campaign after poll numbers showing him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, the early Democratic front-runner, in several key states were leaked to the press.
The president is also facing increased scrutiny in Washington, where his administration has been embroiled in a months-long showdown with Democratic lawmakers over his decision to withhold documents and block testimony requested by committees led by House Democrats, who are split on whether to launch an impeachment inquiry.
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Campaign chief Brad Parscale predicts “landslide” victory in 2020
Mr. Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale is predicting the president will win even more electoral votes than in 2016, saying he expects “an electoral landslide” while dismissing independent polling that shows the president trailing top Democrats.
Parscale made the comments in an interview with CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, hours ahead of Mr. Trump’s rally in Orlando.
“I think we win Florida, yeah,” Parscale told Garrett. “I think we win in an electoral landslide as of today.”
Asked to define an electoral landslide, Parscale responded, “I think even more electoral points than he did last time.” Mr. Trump won 306 electoral votes in 2016 (though two faithless electors declined to cast their votes for him, leaving him with 304 officially). A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.
Campaign plays defense after grim internal poll leaks
Over the weekend, the president’s 2020 campaign fired three members of its polling team after a leak to the media revealed that an internal poll commissioned by the campaign showed Mr. Trump behind Biden in several battleground states.
According to the internal polling numbers, Biden had comfortable leads in hypothetical match-ups against the president in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida — states that helped Mr. Trump garner enough electoral votes to win the presidency in 2016. In deep-red Texas, Biden trailed Mr. Trump by only 2 percenatge points.
The president’s team dismissed the poll — conducted in March — as old and one that calculated a “worst-case scenario” which assumed a surge in turnout of Democratic voters. Mr. Trump, however, has repeatedly denied the existence and veracity of any unfavorable polling, including the March internal poll during an interview with ABC News.
Back in Washington, showdown with Democrats continues
Since Democrats regained control of the House in January, the president has accused them of staging a partisan campaign of “presidential harassment” and vowed to stymie all of their investigations.
His administration has blocked current and former officials from testifying in hearings on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and the legal battle over the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The White House has also withheld troves of documents requested by Democratic-led committees, including the president’s long-sought tax returns.
Although more than 50 Democratic lawmakers in the House and many 2020 presidential contenders have now vouched their support for an impeachment inquiry, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged for a more cautious approach, arguing that an impeachment drive could turn out to be a political gift for the president, who thrives on confrontation.
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