As President Donald Trump continues to target a group of Democratic congresswomen in a series of incendiary attacks, arguments are raging about the president's motivation.
Is Trump just venting his convictions and, critics are increasingly arguing, prejudices in the type of outburst that so often had his officials rushing to limit the damage during his 2016 election campaign? Or is there a strategy at play?
Aides are telling reporters there is a plan at work, with the president's rhetoric highlighting what could turn out to be the dark and divisive themes that make up his 2020 presidential reelection strategy.
Citing several sources familiar with the matter, The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Trump had told aides he was pleased with the Democratic reaction to the attacks.
The Times says he believes he is succeeding in tying centrist Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi to the four progressive congresswomen he has smeared as anti-American extremists.
Only last week Pelosi was locked in fierce dispute with the congresswomen, known as "the Squad," but she came to their defense after Trump on Sunday tweeted they should "go back and help fix" their "broken and crime infested" countries even though all but one was born in the US and all four were US citizens.
For months, Trump and the GOP have been laying the ground for their attacks. In tweets, Trump has attacked the Democrats as "socialists" and "extremists" opposed to American values.
And he seems to believe he has found the perfect target in the four congresswomen: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
The GOP and Trump's allies on Fox News have for months been highlighting controversial statements made by the four, all of whom are recently elected and do not hold leadership positions in the Democratic Party. They include inflammatory statements that Omar has made about Israel, for which she apologized.
But it now seems that Trump will seek to portray these four members of Congress, and not eventual 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, as the face of the Democratic Party.
Trump associates who spoke with Axios in an article published Thursday offered further insight into the calculations that were behind the attacks.
According to them, the president's race-baiting and strong anti-immigrant policies are meant to juice turnout from white voters without significantly alienating Latino voters, leading to a narrow election win.
Trump's shock election victory in 2016 was clinched by persuading white voters in former Rust Belt states to switch sides and vote Republican.
Earlier this week, Axios reported that "top Democrats" were circulating a poll conducted in May that found white, non-college-educated swing voters key to Democratic success in 2020 largely saw Ocasio-Cortez as the face of the Democratic Party and largely had an unfavorable impression of her. The poll's methodology was unclear, but Axios framed its circulation as evidence that high-level Democrats were worried the party might be perceived as socialist.
Other Republicans, though, believe that Trump's attacks are a dangerous gamble that could backfire, with Politico reporting Monday that some strategists thought a divided and bickering Democratic opposition was of more benefit to Trump entering 2020 than one united in face of his attacks.
Other fear alienating more of the suburban white voters who abandoned the GOP to vote Democrat in the 2018 midterms, handing the Democrats control of the House.
