‘Trying to lose’: Ex-GOP insider says Trump sabotaging himself to test followers’ loyalty

Donald Trump doesn’t even seem like he wants to win re-election anymore, according to a political insider.

The former president and Republican nominee told reporters that he thought Florida’s current six-week abortion ban was “too short,” which has infuriated many fellow conservatives, and former GOP congressional staffer Maura Gillespie told CNN that shows Trump isn’t really a serious candidate.

“He again has bucked his campaign at every turn and they cannot keep him on message, so while I agree that six weeks is ridiculous and it’s not going to ever fly in this country and nor should it,” Gillespie said. “His inability to stay on message with his campaign and what his far-right supporters, one is just a sign to me that Donald Trump has just testing the boundaries constantly about how far he can push his supporters and see how they’ll come along with him. It’s about ego, and I don’t think he’s actually thinking through as far as policy stances go.”

Democratic nominee Kamala Harris addressed some of her seeming shifts on policy positions in an interview Thursday with CNN, saying that she had changed her mind on some issues but had not abandoned her core values, and Gillespie said that Trump’s comments on abortion had undercut Republicans’ ability to attack her comments.

“He answered the question because, you know, in bucking his campaign, he’s not focused on the message there,” Gillespie said. “[Harris] did what she needed to do to answer in a calm and confident way, whereas I think in the past interviews we’ve watched of her, she did seem defensive, which is something that really was important for her not to show, that she, you know, she could answer the questions. I think on policy, we’re not going to really hear that during an interview like that, to be concrete and have a fleshed-out plan. But on the flip side, people are saying that she switched policies and all that. It’s hard for anyone, I think, to stand here with a straight face and, say, criticize Harris for having shifting policies when again, Trump went off and said IVF for all, so it’s really, you’ve got to be cognizant there.”

Harris showed enough in her interview to suggest she’ll fare well against Trump in a debate, Gillespie said, but she doubts the GOP nominee is fully invested in his campaign anymore.

“As long as she can stay calm against the erratic comments of Donald Trump in that debate, but also confident, she’ll do really well,” Gillespie said. “I mean, again, I think I’ve said this a couple of times, but I do think that Donald Trump, in some ways is trying to lose. I think he, it’s about ego for him, and if he can bring his supporters to where he decides to go next, he’ll feel good about himself, but I don’t think he actually wants to be in the White House again. I think he just wants to complain about it all being corrupt, but we’ll see he is running right now, so it looks like he’s trying to win.”