Donald Trump returns to the national stage after a week of little coverage and on the heels of very disappointing poll numbers. After the death of Osama bin Laden greedily snagged the attention of major news outlets, Trump’s Wednesday return is his second visit to New Hampshire since floating the idea of a presidential run.
Trump will speak before the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce at an event planned several months ago. Like his previous visit to the Live Free or Die State, Trump’s stop will consist of several “private meetings” with business and community leaders.
The difference between this trip and the last one, however, is all in the details. Trump arrived in New Hampshire with the highest rating of any possible GOP presidential candidate, beating the closest contender by as much as 11 points. Upon his arrival on April 27, Trump — whose main stump speech had primarily consisted of calls for President Obama to release his birth certificate — held an impromptu press conference at the airport before a gaggle of reporters. In line with his usual Me Doctrine, Trump took credit for getting the Obama to release his birth certificate. “I hope it checks out beautifully. I am really proud, I am really honored,” said Trump at the time.
But that’s when Trump was riding high on massive news coverage. The current trip comes after unfortunate events for the usually center-stage public figure. including the elimination of Osama bin Laden, Obama increased approval rating, the White House Correspondence Dinner, and a devastating recent poll. At the correspondence dinner, Trump took a shellacking from both host and Saturday Night Live comedian Seth Meyers, as well as President Obama himself.
More troubling for Trump is that while he has shied away from the spotlight for the past fortnight, his poll numbers have bottomed up. Less than a month ago, the possible potential 2012 candidate was at the top of several GOP presidential polls, outdoing the other hopefuls by as much as 11 points. New numbers from the Public Policy Polling, however, are not great for Trump:
Trump’s last maybe-campaign-related outing was a public talk before Las Vegas Republicans on April 29, hosted by the Clark County GOP and three conservative women’s groups. At that appearance, Trump spoke forcefully about the United States’ Chinese creditors and dropped several “f-bombs” before a crowd of more than a 1,000.
Trump’s next scheduled presidentially-tinged public appearance is the GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner in the battleground state of Iowa on June 10.
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