Advisers worried that Donald Trump is veering off topic to "take the bait every time" from critics are urging the GOP nominee to get back on track and focus on the issues that have resonated with voters, The Hill reports.
"Hopefully, Donald Trump will soon recognize that if you take the bait every time, you’ll never have a chance to discuss the real issues,” retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a former GOP presidential candidate who's now advising Trump, tells The Hill.
“We have the upper hand on the economy, education... and a whole host of things, there is no dearth of substantial issues to talk about. There is no reason to engage with those who are trying to make this about something else."
“The message is penetrating," he adds. "It’s soaking through. He’s marinating in it."
Trump has been under heavy fire for his contentious attacks on the Muslim parents of fallen Army Capt. Humayun Khan.
"The only lasting damage he did this week was the opportunity cost where he wasn’t talking about what he was supposed to be talking about every single day," Barry Bennett, Carson’s former campaign manager who's also advised the Trump campaign, tells The Hill.
GOP pollster Frank Luntz says the last two weeks have shown Trump "at his best and his worst."
"Trump is at his best when he is attacking the system. He is at his worst when he is attacking specific people," Luntz tells The Hill. "If he wants to win this election, he will go back to attacking the system, and he will leave individual people alone.”
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