Trump On Election Strategy: ‘I Don’t Know That We Need To Get Out The Vote’

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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Donald Trump trumpeted a confident assessment of his campaign on Thursday night, saying there was no need for him to encourage voters to head to the polls on election day.

Asked by Fox News’ Eric Bolling about the open letter by 70 Republicans asking the Republican National Committee to redirect funding from the presidential race to down-ballot campaigns, Trump said he didn’t need their assistance.

“One of the big things about the RNC is they have this whole infrastructure of data and information and contacts and email lists and mailing lists and phone numbers. That is something that is important to your campaign,” Bolling said. “That’s not at risk. Is that in jeopardy at all?”

“I don’t know. I will let you know on the ninth, on November 9th,” Trump replied.

“We are gonna have tremendous turnout from the evangelicals, from the miners, from the people that make our steel, from people that are getting killed by trade deals, from people that have been just decimated, from the military who are with Trump 100 percent,” he went on. “From our vets because I’m going to take care of the vets.”

“I don’t know that we need to get out the vote,” the Republican nominee concluded. “I think people that really want to vote, they’re gonna just get up and vote for Trump. And we’re going to make America great again.”

The Trump campaign has yet to develop on-the-ground support in critical battleground states as election day draws nearer and Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers in those states rise. Trump has only one field office in all of Florida, as Politico reported, and lacks the basics of a campaign in Hamilton County, a key county in the swing state of Ohio.

As Trump’s poll numbers have flagged in the wake of the July conventions and a new wave of Republicans have defected from his campaign, the real estate mogul has taken a newly conciliatory approach towards a potential loss in November. He has insisted that he will not dial back his rhetoric or alter his off-the-cuff style on the stump in order to win over uncertain voters, and will simply “go back to a very good life” if he loses.

“At the end, it’s either going to work or I’m going to, you know — I’m going to have a very, very nice, long vacation,” Trump said on Thursday.

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