Ann Coulter believes that Donald Trump can win the White House by continuing to tap into the electorate’s anger over the nation’s broken immigration system.
Speaking at a collegians forum hosted by the Eagle Forum, Ms. Counter said Friday that Mr. Trump should not be underestimated.
“I love Trump. I love him, and I think he can win,” Ms. Coulter said. “I think he can win the nomination and I think he can win as a third party.”
The conservative commentator is one of the most vocal critics of the immigration system. She recently released a book, called “Adios America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole,” in which she attacks both parties for not strengthening border security and not reducing the flow of people coming into the country — both legally and illegally.
On Friday, Ms. Coulter told the college students gathered at the Heritage Foundation that her first thought when Mr. Trump entered the GOP race was that she was glad that he would ensure immigration would get some attention.
Since then, she has come to believe that Mr. Trump, who has surged to the top of the GOP polls, has a real shot at winning the primary race, as well as the general election.
She pointed to the success that businessman Ross Perot running as a third-party candidate in the 1992 presidential election. She said Mr. Trump is a stronger candidate and said the political environment is ripe for an insurgent candidate like Mr. Trump.
“Ross Perot was really funny looking,” she said. “He is a little guy. His ears stick straight out. He has a funny accent. He dropped out of the race claiming the CIA was disrupting his daughter’s wedding and it was before cable news, the Internet and talk radio.”
“And it has been another 20 years of lies from the Republicans,” she said. “So Trump is a way more attractive candidate.”
She added that Mr. Perot’s success came in part from the blow back against President George H.W. Bush for his one lie over raising taxes.
This go round, she said Mr. Trump could get a boost from the fact that the nation’s elected leaders have never followed through on their 30-year-old promise to secure the nation’s borders.
“Thirty years we have been lied to. I now think, it just occurred to be in the last week, that if he sticks it out, he could win the nomination,” she said, adding Mr. Trump has a better chance of winning than some of his well-known rivals. “If he continues, I think he is more likely to be the next president than Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio. I can tell you that.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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