The Democratic Party will formally confirm the nominations of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for the November presidential election at next week's national convention in Chicago.
However, it is unlikely that even this decision will stop Donald Trump from continuing to put President Joe Biden at the centre of his campaign.
Even in the interview he gave to Elon Musk on X on Monday, which will remain one of his most important media appearances until the end of the election campaign, Donald Trump paid a lot of attention to President Biden, a man who has long ceased to be his rival in the election race.
He poured insults regarding the president's age and physical condition, saying that he is "close to vegetable stage," that "he can't lift the chair," and that "the guy could barely walk."
This kind of vocabulary certainly resonates with a large portion of Trump's voters, but is the Republican nominee hitting the mark by sticking to his old rivalry that no longer exists?
Merging 2016 and 2020
Trump conceived his entire plan to return to the White House on the assumption that he would run against Joe Biden. Moreover, his 2024 election project was to be a combination of a repeat of 2016 and revenge for a defeat in 2020, and in both cases, Joe Biden is at the centre of Trump's campaign.
The Democratic convention in Chicago will take place exactly one month after Joe Biden announced that he was giving up his candidacy, although he will remain in office as US President.
For the same amount of time, Kamala Harris has been facing Trump, but the Republican candidate seems to be ignoring that fact and sticking with an old opponent. He repeated this convincingly and with much enthusiasm in the interview with Elon Musk.
Trump demonstrates that he was ill-prepared for the change at the top of the Democratic camp
Trump demonstrates that he was ill-prepared for the change at the top of the Democratic camp. The change of candidate took place after Biden's poor performance in the TV debate with Trump, when the Republican candidate was already celebrating the success of his strategy, which was based on a repeat of the victorious 2016 campaign and revenge for 2020.
Missed moment for a change of strategy
At a recent rally in Montana, Donald Trump once again devoted a large space to a man who is no longer his rival. The paradox is that he also came to his defence, furious at Biden and his party's decision to withdraw from the race.
“They forced him out. It was a coup. We had a coup. That was the first coup in the history of our country. And it was very successful,” said Trump in Montana on August 10.
He gives no indication that he might give up targeting Joe Biden, even as the campaign continues. He has had plenty of time to change course and ample opportunity to make that clear.
Trump has not utilised the shift in the Democratic Party to intensify his criticism of the policies of the Democratic duo at the top of the US
Biden's decision to give up on another presidential term and the handover of the candidacy to Kamala Harris were opportunities for Trump to adapt his performance to the new circumstances.
He had plenty of reasons to do so; he could even easily make this campaign recalibration, given that Kamala Harris, as Biden's vice president, wants to symbolise the continuity of Biden's and his administration's policies.
However, Trump has not utilised the shift in the Democratic Party to intensify his criticism of the policies of the Democratic duo at the top of the US. His campaign continued to focus on personalities, primarily Joe Biden and, to a lesser extent, Kamala Harris.
Time to pay up for inertia
Trump's advisors are aware that changing course is not easy. Axios quotes a top Republican source saying that their candidate "is struggling to get past his anger," and that is why they are focusing "not on the need for him to change, but on the need to adapt his message to win."
Trump's persistence in missing the target is backfiring. Polls over the last ten days show either Kamala Harris ahead in all battleground states or trailing Trump by a small margin
However, the messages remain unchanged and primarily target an individual who no longer poses a threat to Trump. It is as if Kamala Harris is a second-rate rival to Trump, and he still wants a fight with his old foe, whom he believes is the only one worthy of him.
But Trump's persistence in missing the target is backfiring. Polls over the last ten days show either Kamala Harris ahead in all battleground states or trailing Trump by a small margin.
Next week's Democratic convention in Chicago will be a new moment for Trump to "sober up" and face the fact that he has a new rival in front of him who is no longer Joe Biden.
Additionally, ABC will broadcast a televised debate on September 10 as the first face-to-face meeting between the two presidential candidates.
But even then, Trump's ego will continue to play a significant role in his political performance. Therefore, it is possible that he will stick to the old model of fighting Joe Biden.
