Axios Reports Trump Campaign Manager and Senior Advisers are ‘Darkly Pessimistic’ About Race and Bracing for Loss to Biden

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Axios’ Jonathan Swan reported that Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien and several other advisers are “darkly pessimistic” about the 2020 election, and are bracing for President Donald Trump to lose.

Swan wrote that the Trump campaign is blaming one another internally and is preparing for a potential loss.

“A lot of this is the president himself,” one adviser said. “You can’t heal a patient who doesn’t want to take the diagnosis.”

“It’s not a great feeling when you get the sense the campaign manager doesn’t deep down think we’re going to win,” another campaign source said.

Stepien, however, denied the reports and told Swan that he’s confident the president will get re-elected on November 3.

“With each day closer to November 3, our campaign data presents a clear pathway to 270 for the President that provides me more confidence than ever in President Trump’s re-election,” he said. “Our campaign knows how President Trump was elected in 2016 and more importantly, we know exactly how he’s going to do it again.”

Swan also noted that Stepien is dealing with a shortage of money, as previous campaign manager Brad Parscale spent a large portion of their funds early on.

The reporter, however, made it clear that Trump can certainly still win the upcoming election, despite the fact that his supporters and allies “keep telling us he’s toast.”

In terms of really changing the trajectory of the race,” another campaign source said. “There’s only one person, from either side, who can do that. And that’s Trump.”