Trump campaign manager says 4 left-leaning states are "in play" in 2020
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale says the president's 2020 campaign is going to be bigger and better than it was in 2016 — and he's optimistic the president can win over states he lost the last time around.
On "Face the Nation" Sunday, Parscale said the campaign is focused on some states besides the battleground states the president won narrowly in 2016, such as Pennsylvania and Florida.
"Obviously we have to go back and win Michigan again, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin," Parscale said in the interview, which was taped earlier in April. "We plan on also being in Minnesota very soon. I think New Mexico is in play in 2020. I think New Hampshire, I think we continue to grow the map. I think Nevada, you know, even Colorado. And so those are states we did not win in 2016 that I think are open for 2020."
Hillary Clinton won New Mexico by more than 8 points, Colorado by 5 points and Nevada by more than 2 points in 2016. She won New Hampshire by less than one point. But Mr. Trump's popularity isn't high in any of those states, and Democrats won Senate races in Nevada and New Mexico in 2018. Parscale didn't elaborate on any strategy for winning those states.
The Trump campaign is fundraising off small-dollar donations, with Parscale saying 95 percent of donations come from that group. Still, Parscale insists the Trump 2020 campaign will be "bigger, better and badder" by "every single metric" than in 2016, when Parscale helped propel Mr. Trump to victory. Parscale said he expects about 1.6 million people to volunteer in some form or another to help Mr. Trump in 2020.
"They will be connected through technology on your phone, through apps and other development and different things," Parscale said of the president's supporters. "Some people might just hold block parties. Some people might be engaging on social media. Some people might be knocking door to door. In every single metric we're looking at bigger, better and badder than we were in 2016. And we'll — but this time we're not out there trying to prove we can do something, the president's proved he has done it and now we just have to deliver what he's done.
But Parscale, an expert in digital operations, knows the president is in charge of the campaign messaging. Mr. Trump has made that the case in the White House as well, where he has yet to replace former White House communications director Bill Shine, who will advise the campaign.
"So I always explain it like this. He is the captain of the ship," Parscale said. "He is the engineer of the Trump train. He is the campaign manager, the communications manager, the finance director, coalition's director, all things. My job is to be the Trump conductor. My job is to keep the cars together, keep them running on time get them to the place they need to go."