'Baffled and alarmed': Trump team insiders reveal donors are scared as campaign flails

Team Trump insiders Thursday revealed details of a campaign desperately struggling to keep up with Vice President Kamala Harris and assuage concerns about the former president's out-of-control rants and his running mate's unlikable demeanor, a new report shows.

A dozen insiders tell Reuters donors and campaign staffers have abandoned hopes of a landslide election win after finding themselves unprepared, strategically and financially, to position Donald Trump against the newly presumed Democratic nominee.

"It doesn't change the map as much as shrink it," a Trump campaign staffer told Reuters. "Now there's no reason to talk about places like New Jersey anymore."

Now campaign staffers are grasping to find a strategy to combat Harris attacks on Trump's criminal conviction, Vance's scorn for childless Americans, and the MAGA movement's perceived "weirdness," Reuters reports.

The Trump campaign also finds itself on the defensive as Republican donors raise concerns about Trump's vicious attacks on Harris' racial identity and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's wife, sources reportedly said.

"That left donors and aides baffled and alarmed, according to a Republican donor, an operative at a pro-Trump super PAC spending group, and a Trump-supporting union leader," Reuters reports.

Sources also reported delays rolling out attack ads, which one person told Reuters was caused by the need to run messaging by focus groups, and the wait as Harris selected a running mate.

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Harris' selection of Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) has some Republicans alarmed as they pit the midwestern former school teacher against Vance, who has called childless people sociopathic.

"The Republican National Committee and the campaign have been fielding calls from some donors who fear Vance has become a distraction and is dragging the ticket down," two sources told Reuters.

A Trump senior adviser told Reuters, "It's clear to everyone [Harris] could win."

Nine sources reportedly said Harris will be tougher to beat than President Joe Biden, who stepped aside as concerns mounted about the 81-year-old's health while serving in office.

"The race has changed," Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump adviser, told Reuters. "There's a lot of us that wanted to very actively run against Joe Biden. We felt very good about our race."

Republican Party spokesperson Anna Kelly told Reuters Harris' ascension to the top of the ticket has not changed Trump's swing state strategy and Harris spokesperson Ammar Moussa simply called Trump's policies "backwards."