For weeks, operatives from both political parties have picked up on a defining phenomenon of the presidential race: The more that President Trump has been the center of conversation the worse it has been for him. The pattern held true through the summer and into the fall, and it has contributed to the president’s deficit to former Vice President Joe Biden in the election’s closing weeks…

“A1 all week is gonna be the Supreme Court,” a source close to the Trump campaign predicted on Monday morning. “Someone else being the main story in the news, particularly someone who reminds soft Republicans and independents what they do like about Trump’s policies, is a good thing for him, particularly right now.”…

“Any time he is not on the front page, at this point, is helpful,” said Alex Conant, a veteran Republican strategist who ran communications for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) 2016 presidential campaign. Trump, Conant said, “needs this election to be about something other than his own tweets and handling of COVID. Every time he steps on to the White House porch, the story is about him ignoring what his doctor has told him.”