'Audibly distraught' Trump insider fears he's 'in a dark place right now': reporter
Donald Trump is in a bad mood, and it is reflected in his closing message, said one reporter.
Trump was in Raleigh, North Carolina, Monday around lunch, where he spoke for over 90 minutes to a crowd that was about only 70% full, MSNBC reported.
Journalist and author Tim Alberta said that he has spent the past year speaking with sources inside the campaign, and things have been growing worse over time.
"There has always been this strange disconnect in the sense that people around Trump recognize that this election, certainly more than the other two, carries a certain existential consequence for Trump," Alberta said, in reference to the fact that if he loses, Trump may be facing jail time.
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"So, in one sense, you're looking at that and thinking, well, nothing should concentrate the mind like the possibility of going to jail," Alberta continued, noting that people around Trump haven't made that clear to him directly.
Alberta revealed that staff have "emphasized, look, Mr. President, we got to bear down here. We have got to stay on message. If you do these things, if you deliver on these things that we are telling you to do, then we are going to win."
There are times when Trump is receptive to it and other times "where he almost seems determined to blow this thing up. He almost seems like he wants to see just how close he can get to self-destruction."
On Friday, Alberta said he was speaking with a source "very close to Trump who was just audibly distraught."
The person was "talking about how they can't quite understand it, but for whatever reason, he is just in a dark place right now and just seems like he is closing this campaign on this really negative, violent note where they want to be running through the tape on this kind of positive unifying note."
They're well aware, however, that they can't force Trump to do anything. They were merely hoping they could end the campaign differently.
See the interview below or at the link here.
- YouTube youtu.be