Hours after an apparent assassination attempt left former President Donald Trump injured at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, well-known conservative pollster Frank Luntz has tempered conservative expectations that the incident will significantly boost the former president’s re-election campaign after his 2020 loss.
As numerous users on X, formerly known as Twitter, speculated that Trump would now easily secure a victory, Luntz countered, suggesting that at best, Trump had solidified his existing base’s support.
Late on Saturday, July 13, Luntz took to X, stating that after a while of sympathy, voters would finally troop back to their parties and preferred candidates. He added that those who will defect to Trump’s side will ultimately revert. as reported by Reuters.
“Ultimately, voters will calm down and return to their preferred candidate. Those who temporarily shift their support to Trump out of sympathy are likely to revert,” the pollster stated.
But he predicted the incident would infuriate Republicans and make them come out in huge numbers on election day to vote, an advantage President Joe Biden or any Democratic candidate won’t have.
“However, the incident in Pennsylvania will undoubtedly influence the final vote, ensuring that every Trump supporter turns out to vote. Biden, or any other Democratic candidate, won’t have the same guaranteed participation,” he opined.
“This participation gap could be at least 1% and up to 2%. Since the incident occurred in Pennsylvania, its impact will be most pronounced there.”Luntz then added a word of caution.
“This doesn’t mean Trump will necessarily win Pennsylvania. But the already challenging path for Joe Biden has just become more difficult,” he prophesied. report from CNN.
“Similar to how George Floyd’s death had a profound effect on millions of Americans, the shooting of Donald Trump will have significant consequences, likely far beyond what the shooter intended.”
His observation comes at a time when Trump is already making a name for himself for his sympathy card games, using his court cases to solidify his support among Republicans.
He also continues to blame Biden for the same suits, terming it another form of election interference, but is yet to prove the connection.
