|
| Yes, that supposed to be The Donald |
Scan the headlines this week, and Donald Trump is everywhere. Scan his campaign schedule, and he is…nowhere...
His last day on the trail was Monday, when he delivered a foreign policy speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference. His next public campaign event is not until next Tuesday afternoon in Wisconsin — which votes on April 5 — meaning that he will have gone nearly seven full days without any campaign events.
Though the candidate has remained active launching Twitter attacks on rivals while vacationing in Florida, his absence on the trail is a notable departure from his hectic schedule around high stakes elections in the South and in the Midwest earlier this month. His campaign regularly hosted several events per day and hopped between states each night.
The downtime comes after weeks of negative press centered on volatile, sometimes-violent clashes between protesters and his supporters at campaign rallies around the country.
[...]
The real-estate mogul has regularly contrasted his energy level with other candidates, perhaps most famously former Florida governor Jeb Bush, whom Trump branded as “low-energy” — a moniker that followed the former governor for much of the race before he dropped out. Trump also regularly contrasts himself to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, whom he says lacks the physical endurance to serve as president.
“I think she doesn’t have the stamina. You watch her, her life, you’ll watch how she’ll go away for three four days, she’ll come back, and she’ll go. I just don’t think she has the stamina,” Trump said on CNN Monday. “Look, we’ve got to beat China in trade. We’ve got to beat ISIS. We’ve got so many problems in this country. I say she does not have the stamina to be a good president.”
Cruz’s campaign has been happy to point out Trump’s quiet schedule: “MISSING #SleazyDonald: Why no events in 4 days; none planned for 8,” tweeted Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe Friday. “Ever had psychological eval? What is hiding in medical records! Release!”
Trump, meanwhile, has largely spent the last several days in Palm Beach, Fla., at his famous Versailles-like club, Mar-a-Lago. Members of his family have joined him there.
“Very cool impromptu concert by members of the band Chicago at dinner at Mar-a-Lago just now. Awesome surprise,” wrote Donald Trump Jr. in an Instagram post, alongside a video of his father standing with the band. “...Even got @realdonaldtrump up and going.”
Trump’s last full day on the trail was in Arizona on Saturday, when chaotic scenes in Tucson and the Phoenix suburbs assured another weekend of footage showing protesters clashing with Trump supporters or police officers.
TRUMP: Well, the fact is, he takes more vacations than any human being I've ever seen. They used to complain about George Bush, but I understand he's already exceeded George Bush and we're not even through the year. So he likes vacation.
VAN SUSTEREN: What does -- I mean, obviously, that doesn't sound a -- send a good message if, indeed, the American people think that he likes a, quote, "vacation."
TRUMP: Well, I mean, it sends a bad message. Here we have a country that really is going to hell in a handbasket. Let's not kid ourselves. What's happening to this country is horrible. All over the world, they're talking about it. And we have a president that's constantly -- whether it's Martha's Vineyard or someplace else, constantly on vacation. I mean, all the time he's on vacation! So I think it sends a very, very bad message. We have to work in this country to bring it back.