Trump Starts 2020 Campaign

With the trip to 9,000 boisterous fans in Melbourne, Florida, President Trump started his re-election campaign. He told the audience: “I am here because I want to be among my friends and among the people.” He referred to them as part of the “truly great movement.”

Photo: Inquisitr.com

It was called a campaign event, and when asked on Air Force One if it was early to start a campaign, Trump said: “Life is a campaign. Making our country great again is a campaign.”

Trump is not the first president to start campaigning early. The permanent campaign as a term was first used in the Carter administration and certainly Reagan, Clinton and Obama made considerable use of the White House and presidential resources to prepare for re-election and try to build legislative support. But to announce it after only four weeks, partially as a reboot and an escape from the “swamp” of Washington, is unusual.

Numerous reasons were offered as to why to start campaigning four weeks into the start of an administration:

• He needed to recharge while escaping the troubles of D.C.
• He wants to maintain and charge up his base
• He wants to remind his party he’s the boss
• He can control crowd access by calling it a campaign event (keep out protesters)
• He wants to continue to get his message out around the media while attacking them (They have replaced Clinton)

Starting the campaign early also has to do with Trump’s insecurity over his legitimacy. He lost the popular vote in a narrow Electoral College win. From the size of his inaugural crowd, to 3 to 5 million illegal voters, to the denial of Russian involvement, Trump spends immense amounts of mental energy on shoring up the authenticity of his election. Nothing will treat this insecurity as effectively as winning a popular and Electoral College victory in 2020.

Read Politico: Four weeks into his presidency, Trump returns to campaign mode