Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci on Thursday weighed in on the recent poll numbers that have given Vice President Kamala Harris a slight lead over her rival Donald Trump and explored the reasons thereof.
Elections And Immigration: After the presidential debate held on Sept. 10, the polls were largely tied and the upper hand Harris has recently gained is due to the “cat and dog memes” that are out there in droves following claims from Trump and his team that Haitian immigrants in Springfield Ohio ate pets, said Scaramucci in the latest episode of Rest Is Politics US podcast.
Trump believes that he has a three-legged stool of “racism, misogyny and anti-immigration” and he thinks if he can run on that platform, he can bring enough of his base out, who will equivocate on his behalf, Scaramucci, a businessman, crypto bull and founder of SkyBridge Capital said.
“Ohio is tarnished by him; there’s no evidence to this; Haitian Americans are tarnished by him, he added.
The “orange maze” inside Trump’s brain thinks people fear foreigners and that America has always classically been a xenophobic country, Scaramucci said, adding that it has also been an immigration country but there’s a large part of the people that are xenophobic and there has always been an element of isolationism in the country.
While weighing in a recent poll result that showed a majority of people were in favor of deporting undocumented immigrants, Scaramucci said he does not attach much significance to the number, given his view that response ultimately depended on the way the question is phrased.
Harris Closes Gap On Economic Stewardship: While referring to the recent FT-Michigan Roo and Morning Consult polls, which show Harris has closed her gap with Trump on economic policies, Scaramucci said it is due to Trump doing a poor job of explaining his economic policies
“If you’re sitting out there saying that we’re going to do tariffs, tariffs, tariffs and the other governments around the world are going to pay those taxes and they’re going to lower the cost of goods in the country, that’s the trifecta of lies,” Scaramucci said. On the other hand, the lower and middle-class people will pay more of a percentage of their disposable income for those tariffs than the rich people, he said, adding that it’s a regressive tax and prices will go up.
He also flagged the possibility of a country circumventing the tariffs by exporting semi-finished goods to another for which tariffs do not apply. This country then exports the fully-finished product to the U.S., thus avoiding tariffs.
Scaramucci also called the widely-held belief that Republicans are better for the economy a misnomer, as he cited better stock market performance and employment under the Democratic government. That said, Harris is not putting a lot of flesh on the bones of her economic plan, he said.
Swing State That Matters: Pennsylvania, which goes by the moniker “Keystone State,” is a very eclectic mix of people and it’s a political puzzle that has to be solved, Scaramucci said. “If you want to win the presidency and Donald Trump solved it with volume in 2016, Joe Biden solved it with being a native in 2020,” he said.
The ex-White House aide noted that the Quinnipiac poll showed Harris up 6 points in the state versus Trump, with a 51%-45% tally. He noted that Green Party candidate Jill Stein has 1% of votes in the state. “That’s got to be a source of frustration for the Democrats because those votes would lean towards Harris,” he said.
The moot points are whether they can believe in her fracking and how she does in the urban areas. Scaramucci said he plans to go to Pennsylvania and be on left-leaning radio talk shows over the next couple of months. Harris needs to get blue-collar turnout, African-American turnout and support of the union and energy people to pull this off, he said.
When his co-host Katty Kay noted that Pennsylvania Michigan and Wisconsin have voted the same way in every presidential election since 1980 with the exception of 1988, Scaramucci said if Harris does emerge victorious in Pennsylvania that would seal the deal for her. “If she wins those three states, she becomes the 47th president,” he said.
“I think Trump is underestimating her in Pennsylvania and I think his campaign is underestimating her in Pennsylvania and and I think she could use that to her advantage,” he added.
Did You Know?
- Congress Is Making Huge Investments. Get Tips On What They Bought And Sold Ahead Of The 2024 Election With Our Easy-to-Use Tool
Image via Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
