CNN conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg on Wednesday talked about what he believed has been former President Donald Trump’s apparent show of relative restraint following his first presidential debate against Joe Biden.
The presumptive GOP presidential nominee appears to have taken a “sit back and watch mentality” as calls grow among Democrats for Biden to quit his 2024 run after his disastrous performance in the head-to-head, noted “The Lead” anchor Jake Tapper.
Tapper asked Goldberg if it was the “right kind of move” for Trump.
“I think it’s freaking a lot of people out,” replied Goldberg, who resigned from Fox News in 2021 in opposition to then-prime time personality Tucker Carlson’s divisive on-air commentary.
Goldberg’s response drew laughter from Tapper.
“One of the things that we’ve known about Trump for a very long time is that he would prefer negative attention than no attention,” Goldberg continued. “He likes positive attention more but if he can’t get it, he’ll get negative attention.”
“And he has shown remarkable discipline in, again, grading on a curve, for staying out of the way during all of this,” he added. “It does point to the idea that his current political team is probably better than any team he’s had before.”
Tapper suggested Trump could have possibly “grown or changed.”
“No,” Goldberg simply replied.