With Hillary Clinton currently leading in most polls across the U.S., it is safe to say that the Trump campaign is scrambling to make these last days leading up to the election count. That being the case, the role of Trump’s surrogates has become even more crucial than ever if the Republican candidate still hopes to have a chance at the White House. With his surrogates now up in arms and fiercely defending their candidate’s statements and actions in every possible way, it will be interesting to see how the rest of October plays out for Mr. Trump.
Desperate Strategies
As it stands, it would appear that Trump’s surrogates are determined to defend their candidate’s actions in the wake of the multitude of controversies he is now involved in, taking a defensive and deflective form of apologia to a whole new level. A recurring strategy in recent days has been for surrogates to attempt to re-direct the conversation to issues that “matter,” citing their desire to discuss policy as their main reason for doing so. However, it is increasingly unclear which issues said surrogates are desiring to talk about, as it has never quite been made clear by the Republican front-runner what actions he will actually take once in office – besides “looking into it,” of course.
Prepping for a Loss?
Recently, Trump surrogates – as well as the man, himself – have been quoted more and more as saying the election will be “rigged,” claiming that the media and the establishment, itself, are conspiring against the Republican candidate and will ensure that he loses no matter what. In addition to planting such seeds across various social media outlets, Trump’s surrogates have also gone on more mainstream talk shows, such as NBC’s “The Today Show,” echoing their candidate’s claims and emphasizing the needs for more “monitored” polling and voting sites.
It Remains to be Seen…
Though these new tactics are exceptionally interesting to analyze from a rhetorical standpoint and the twist they’ve put on certain traditional techniques, it remains to be seen how all of these changes will affect the overall election come November 8th. If Trump has anything to say about it, though, he and his surrogates will continue to extend their brand of unapologetic and inflammatory rhetoric to the mass public, allowing voters to make of it what they may – while simultaneously decrying the very system that he seeks to become a part of.