A Trump campaign adviser on post-debate polling and the president’s health

Judy Woodruff:

With President Trump's return to the White House, let's turn now to one his reelection campaign's senior adviser, Steve Cortes.

Steve Cortes, welcome to the "NewsHour."

So, we heard the president's doctors today say he is not out of the woods yet. They are watching him very closely. They say they know he is still contagious.

Given that, why is it a good idea for him to go back to the White House?

Steve Cortes:

Well, listen, I'm not going to speak to the medical side of things.

That is obviously up to his team. But we know that they approved of this, and I trust in their judgment.

Dr. Conley is not only a man of science, but he's also a Naval officer, an incredible patriot who served this country in Afghanistan. So, between his — both his patriotic service and his professional credentials, I'm going to defer to them.

Of course, the president prefers to be in the White House. I think most patients of any kind prefer to be at home. But he's not doing this without the approval and cooperation of his medical staff.

Judy Woodruff:

It's understandable he'd want to be back there.

But, as you know, again, he's still contagious. We already have at the White House not just the president. You have the press secretary, you have to press aides, you have other — others on the staff who have tested positive.

And there's going to have to be a duplicative, secure area around the president because he's contagious. It just — it just calls into question why, and whether this is being done for political reasons.

Steve Cortes:

Well, listen, no, I can assure you it's not being done for political reasons.

I think that the — again, I defer to the medical authorities, I'm not a doctor. I'm going to defer to them that they think this is appropriate, and they believe they can manage him, as well as protect other folks at the White House.

And then, secondly, I will just tell you, from a governmental standpoint, although he does have an office suite, and a considerable one, at Walter Reed, it's, of course, not quite the White House.

And I think that the president believes that he will be more effective as our commander in chief in the White House, and that he can do so effectively while protecting other folks. Clearly, he's not going to be wandering the halls of the West Wing or next door at the Executive Office Building.

But, look, this is good news. I mean, I think that we all should celebrate this, that our president, who everyone, I think even people who don't support his agenda, were very understandably worried when Marine One took off from the White House with our president infected with this virus.

He is now returning home in far, far better condition already in just a few short days.

Judy Woodruff:

Well, let me ask you about the state of the campaign.

As we know, the campaign manager is now down with COVID. The chairman of the RNC is down with COVID. The president is back in — behind Joe Biden by anywhere from eight, nine or more points in the polls.

What is the shape? How far are you behind in this campaign?

Steve Cortes:

Well, let me address that, please, on polls, because I think — and, look, I don't like to play the game of just cherry-picking polls.

But, if we're going to do that, yes, there are some polls that have come out, national polls, which aren't really all that relevant, honestly, to how we elect the president of the United States, but there are some national polls lately that have shown us sliding, that have shown a retreat in our standing.

However, there are also national polls that show us gaining, and respectable ones. Ones like Zogby and Investor's Business Daily show Joe Biden with an extremely narrow lead and us gaining three points, actually, since the debate.

So, here's what I think. If you look at battleground states, polls are an important input for us, for those of us here in the campaign, both public polls, as well as the internal ones we do.

When you look at battleground states, all of them in the last couple of months have tightened dramatically. And even if we don't have a lead in a lot of those states, we are very much within striking distance.

So, I view those — and I'm trying to be unbiased as I can here. I really view the battleground states as tossups. I think even the Biden camp would roughly agree that either side is capable of winning these battleground states, given what we know…

Judy Woodruff:

Well, let me…

Steve Cortes:

… of internal and public polling.

Judy Woodruff:

Very quickly, Vice President Pence, no concerns about his exposure to COVID, having him travel the country, as he is between now and the election?

Steve Cortes:

No, listen, the chain of command is well-established here, of course, in the United States. I'm not talking politically now. I'm talking governmentally.

And neither the president, nor Pence, nor anyone on our campaign, we cannot cower and hide. We simply will not do that. We can take reasonable precautions. And we will. And — we have and we will. None of that guarantees safety. We saw that with the president, who, unfortunately, still got infected, as the most protected person probably in the world.

But Vice President Pence is going to be — he is out there, not going to be. He is out there traveling the country, heading to the debate. This campaign is charging forward. We're going to defeat the virus, and we're going to convince the American people to rehire Donald Trump as their CEO for this economic revival of the next four years.

Judy Woodruff:

Steve Cortes, with the Trump campaign, thank you very much.

Steve Cortes:

Thank you.