Republican strategist and polling guru Frank Luntz can’t seem to understand why President Donald Trump struts around at rallies bragging that his voters will never abandon him—especially at a time when so many are.
“Why is he doing this?” Luntz demanded of CNN anchor Boris Sanchez on Thursday. “As a pollster, as a focus group moderator. Why is he challenging people to stand up and be against him? That I don’t understand at this moment when the public is nervous about the economy, nervous about affordability, concerned about what’s going on across the globe. Why challenge people that way? Why not empathize? Why not bring people together rather than pushing them out? I don’t I don’t get that.”
“I’ve never seen numbers like this, this close to an election,” Luntz said, referring to the president’s record low approval of 36 percent. Trump has also lost ground with younger voters, nonwhite voters, and even his former stronghold of voters without a college degree. Only 29 percent approve of his handling of the economy. “That’s not good at all. And as recently as three weeks ago he called affordability a hoax. It’s not a hoax if you can’t afford eggs. It’s not a hoax if you can’t afford steak.”
Luntz went on to say that “no one has had a bigger impact on American society in his first two years that Donald Trump” because he “absolutely controlled the agenda. He controlled what we talked about. He controlled where we pursued our politics.”
“I don’t know if they understand how people actually feel, that they are anxious, nervous, angry because their lives are tougher today than they used to be. And one of the reasons why they voted for him is because they saw that he was going to fix it, and they were grateful for this,” Luntz complained. “Donald Trump had the most amazing recovery of any political figure ever. And now I look at these numbers. And if the polls are right … this is going to be a very big night for Democrats.”
Luntz said polls are not as clear as they used to be because Republicans don’t participate, but focus groups suggest many Republicans will not participate in the midterms.
“They sit like this: Their hands are folded and they don’t really care. They’re looking down and looking around because they’re not engaged. They’re not involved and turnout determines everything,” said Luntz.
Luntz added however, polls have let him down before, particularly in 2016 when Trump unexpectedly beat Hillary Clinton.
“I was so convinced that I was right. By the way, I’m going to tell you something I never told before: I called Dick Cheney that night in 2016. I said, ‘sir, Donald Trump’s going to lose. Your daughter [then GOP. Sen. Liz Chaney] is fine because it’s Wyoming. But I think Republicans are going to have a really, really bad night tonight,’” Luntz recalled. “Having to apologize to Dick Cheney 24 hours later — I promise you, you do not want to go through that experience. I was afraid he was going to take me hunting after that.”