The former president’s second son is accusing Florida Republicans of widening the state’s electoral map to favor certain key demographics in favor of Donald Trump.
But he also warned that an “October surprise” type of development late in the campaign could complicate the situation in the final stages.
“The map has expanded tremendously,” Eric Trump said Tuesday in Milwaukee.
“The internal numbers are great. We’re seeing very significant changes,” he added, noting it’s not just state-by-state demographics that are impacting, but nationwide.
“The young person vote has never done better. The African-American vote has never done better. Turnout is up 20 percent. The Hispanic vote has never done better. The Jewish vote has never done better,” Eric Trump said, referring to states the Trump campaign believes it can win.
These states include Minnesota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada.
“In Nevada, they’re up about 10 percent. In Arizona, they’re up about 7 percent. I don’t know that Nevada has ever been more popular in the polls than Arizona at one time. Arizona is incredibly Republican, but they’re doing really well in Arizona. They’re doing really well in Nevada.”
Republican National Committee and Trump political director James Blair and pollster Tony Fabrizio expressed similar optimism, noting that in addition to Maine, Minnesota, Virginia, New Jersey and New Mexico are also at stake.
On the other hand, Blair acknowledged that “the support map is expanding,” and is optimistic that the Trump campaign can “out-fund” the Biden campaign. He also expressed confidence that the series of news, including the attempted assassination of the former president on Saturday night, “has really galvanized our supporters and gained new supporters.”
“Joe Biden has spent $150 million in battleground states,” Blair said, “and the numbers are trending in the wrong direction.”
Fabrizio noted that the media was slow to understand that Minnesota and Virginia were at stake, blaming news organizations for “playing catch-up” and not understanding “the difference in the level of enthusiasm between our base and Joe Biden’s base.”
“I’m writing as if North Carolina and Arizona are still swing states,” he said, adding that this election cycle there’s a chance for Republicans to win that didn’t exist in 2016 or 2020.
He said one thing to watch will be which states have which close candidates remaining on the ballot.
Still, Fabrizio said many who voted for Biden in 2020 have “post-buy regret” and are simply too “disgruntled” to vote for him again, adding that ad buys focused on abortion and January 6th have driven poll numbers “in the wrong direction” for the Biden campaign, despite it having a staggering $150 million in the bank to spend on messaging.
“At this point, if you put my polling aside and look at the public averages, I’m leading by almost five points in Pennsylvania. I’m leading by a little over six points in Arizona and I’m close to seven points in Nevada — and by the way, this isn’t counting the undecideds that will be revealed. So at this point, I’m leading pretty comfortably in those states,” Fabrizio said.
Fabrizio is also bullish on Trump’s appeal to young voters succumbing to economic pressures, as about 35% of young voters in his states have had to take on “second jobs to make ends meet.”
“In their memories, the economy was much stronger and there was more opportunity,” Fabrizio added, referring to the Trump era.
Despite the positive polls, there was recognition that currently unforeseen events could change the complexion of the election campaign.
Eric Trump warned that the Biden campaign was certain to “cheat” and that a familiar late-stage campaign tactic was inevitably repeating itself just weeks before the election.
“Folks, there will be a surprise in October,” Eric Trump claimed.
“I want the world to be prepared for the same game they play every time: a Democrat October surprise. This one comes out of the blue and is so sensational that it overwhelms you, but there’s not enough time to disprove it. So by the time it hits the media, the damage they intended to do has already been done, even if it’s not true.”
Fabrizio echoed Eric’s sentiments, warning supporters that Democrats will “do whatever it takes” to win.
