Tom Basile, a host on the conservative network Newsmax, has said Donald Trump is in a “slump” and urgently needs to re-energize his campaign.
During his show America Right Now, Basile offered Trump some pointed advice, urging him to go on a “charm offensive” and reintroduce a more likable, relatable version of himself to voters.
“What some have called a slump over the last few weeks is a tremendous opportunity for reinvention,” Basile said.
He explained that while Democrats are actively working to remake Vice President Kamala Harris‘s image, Trump should seize the moment to do the same. “Mr. Trump can and should use this moment to reintroduce himself to the electorate as well,” Basile said.
Donald Trump at a rally in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, August 17, 2024. A Newsmax host has said Trump is in a “slump” and needs to go on a “charm offensive”.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Basile pointed out that for nearly a decade, Democrats have worked to define Trump as “nasty, self-absorbed, unpresidential, and outright dangerous,” an image that has stuck with some voters.
He also admitted that “the former president sometimes doesn’t help his cause” with his combative style and endless rallies. “Campaigns are exhausting and seemingly endless in the digital era,” Basile remarked, explaining that voters are tired of hearing the same rally speeches over and over again. “It frankly gets boring.”
Instead, Basile encouraged Trump to show more of his personal side—the “Donald Trump who loves music” and the “one who greets his grandkids with bear hugs and kisses.”
He suggested that Trump talk more about his personal experiences, such as his brother’s battle with alcohol and his own faith, which he recently discussed with Elon Musk.
“One of Mr. Trump’s best moments from the campaign so far was when he went off script at a South Bronx rally to talk to young people about his father, about how he started his business and the importance of hard work,” Basile said, emphasizing the power of personal connections.
Basile also suggested ditching the red tie, saying, “Now is the time to allow the more likable, relatable side of the man that I have called the ‘blue-collar billionaire’ to come through.”
The feedback comes as Trump’s polls have dramatically swung in Harris’s favor both nationally and in battleground states since she took over from President Joe Biden as the Democratic Candidate.
Although Basile’s criticisms were intended to help Trump, calling his rallies “boring” stands out coming from Newsmax, an openly partisan network that favors Trump.
In 2020, its chief executive Christopher Ruddy told The New Yorker “We have an editorial policy of being supportive of the President [Trump] and his policies.”
The network is currently being sued for defamation by Dominion Voting Systems for, in 2020, allegedly promoting Trump’s lie that Dominion used its machines to rig the 2020 election in favor of Biden. The case is scheduled to go to trial next month.
In 2023, Dominion Voting Systems settled with Fox on the same issue moments before it was set to go to trial, brokering a record $787 million settlement.
Despite this partisanship, the network has been criticized by conservatives in the past for allegedly being harsh on the former president.
In April, it faced MAGA backlash after posting an article on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption “Donald Trump called immigrants in the United States illegally ‘animals’ and ‘not human’ in a speech in Michigan, resorting to the degrading rhetoric he has employed time and again on the campaign trail.”
It later deleted the post, but not before several MAGA accounts had deemed it as “fake news.”
Trump had said “The Democrats say ‘please don’t call them [illegal immigrants] animals. They’re humans. “I said ‘no they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals.”
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s campaign via email for comment.
