Long-time pollster John McLaughlin said former President Donald Trump has presented a solid closing argument to the American people in the final days leading up to the November 5 general election, which is offering voters a stark comparison between his policies and those implemented by the current Biden-Harris administration.
Noting how the former president maintains a slight lead in the race over Vice President Kamala Harris, McLaughlin explained on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show how Trump’s current position in the race is comparable to Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2012 at the same point in time.
McLaughlin explained that Romney lost the race in 2012 after he failed to connect with voters impacted by Hurricane Sandy and fell into then-candidate Barack Obama’s “trap” which painted Romney as a “rich guy who didn’t care about the average person.”
Trump, however, despite being in a similar position as Romney was based on polling, has created a completely “opposite” dynamic between him and the average blue-collar voter, McLaughlin said.
“Yesterday at Madison Square Garden, if you watch the rally…you heard a person who was likable, the guy who waited on people at McDonald’s, unlike Kamala Harris, who doesn’t tell the truth. You saw people connect with him. He loves blue collar workers, he loves the average American,” McLaughlin explained.
“He wants to cut our taxes. He says, ‘Are you better off today than you were four years ago?’ That’s the contrast we want to have in the final week, which is do you want to have low inflation or do you want to have high inflation, open borders, illegal immigration, rising crime, endless wars that they can’t stop. Do you want to go back to peace and prosperity? Donald Trump cares about those things and he cares about this country. People saw a very likable, self effacing person who’s determined to win to help this country. That’s our closing argument,” McLaughlin added.
McLaughlin used the example of the overflow crowd for Trump’s rally in New York City on Sunday at Madison Square Garden of how the former president is connecting with the average voter whose lives have been affected negatively by Democratic policies.
“Madison Square Garden is the most famous arena in New York City…There were lines going on for blocks and they couldn’t get in all the people that wanted to see [Trump]. Tens of thousands of people waited outside to watch and these were New Yorkers, so it’s a diverse crowd…who want Donald Trump to win,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin said one of the reasons New Yorkers showed up for Trump on Sunday was their acceptance of his immigration policies, as the city has become overrun with illegal immigrants, which has drastically driven up the crime rate.
“When you talk about a place that’s been badly affected by open border policies, New York is suffering. Now, 75 percent of the arrests made in Manhattan now are illegal immigrants. You have gangs…who’ve killed people around the country and Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have not apologized for any of this. They’ve not contacted any of the victim’s families. They knew they were letting in murderers and rapists and drug dealers and in New York City, it has cost the taxpayers billions,” McLaughlin said.
Moving forward to Election Day, McLaughlin urged Americans to vote and get their friends and family out to vote.
“This is the most historic election we’ve ever seen in the United States in our lifetimes,” McLaughlin stressed.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.