Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile says she’s “never seen anything like” the political movement led by former President Donald Trump as he solidifies support within the GOP and a major poll shows him tied with President Biden in a hypothetical rematch.
Ms. Brazile said she’s old enough to remember two big political movements: President Ronald Reagan’s hold on the conservative base and President Barack Obama’s ability to galvanize people with hope and change.
“I’ve never seen anything like this with Donald Trump. I mean, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? I mean, being convict… I mean, being indicted, that’s making him stronger? Raising $10 million using an ugly mug shot to raise money? This is a movement,” she told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “And anyone who thinks that you can apply the old political rules to try to defeat this candidate based on he’s scary, he’s ugly, whatever you might want to call him, this is a movement. And we have to respect the fact that it’s a movement.”
Ms. Brazile, who served as campaign manager for Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, was responding in part to a Wall Street Journal poll that said Mr. Trump held a 46-point lead over his nearest challenger, former Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in the GOP primary field.
The poll said if the presidential election were today, Mr. Trump and President Biden would be tied at 46% each.
Adding in third-party candidates, Mr. Trump led Mr. Biden, 40%-39%, with others in the single digits and 17% saying they were undecided.
Democrats are worried about Mr. Trump’s ability to put up big polling numbers despite his legal troubles. He faces more than 90 criminal counts in a quartet of indictments over his post-2020 election actions, storage of sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and alleged falsification of business documents related to hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He pleaded not guilty at his various arraignments.
Ms. Brazile said Mr. Biden and Democrats must work extra hard to energize voters, particularly Latino and Black voters.
“I think the president’s campaign is going to have to really, you know, go deep and go hard to motivate those voters to come back within the Democratic Party coalition,” she said. “Because, without them, it is a tight race, and it’s going to come down to four states.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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