As Woes Accumulate, Economy Looms Larger for Trump’s Campaign

As grim news and bad indicators pile up elsewhere for President Trump’s re-election effort, his promise to lead an economic rebound is growing in importance.

The past week has brought a spate of difficult headlines for the Trump campaign. Polls continued to show him facing a large deficit against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, including a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that gave Mr. Biden an 11-point advantage.

The summer resurgence of the coronavirus continued, and more school districts around the country showed unwillingness to fully open to in-person teaching this fall despite the president’s persistent urging that they do so. Public polling shows majorities disapproving of the president’s handling of the pandemic, as well as his handling of racial tensions.

With such trend lines running in the wrong direction, Mr. Trump nudged aside his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and replaced him with his deputy, Bill Stepien.