A prominent pollster warned Democrats against having New York’s attorney general seize Donald Trump’s assets to pay a fraud penalty, saying it could backfire by fueling Trump’s victimhood narrative and increasing his popularity.
The pollster, Frank Luntz, argued on CNN that taking Trump’s properties would prove Trump’s claims of a tilted legal system and bolster his arguments, driving up his support.
“I want you to remember this moment and don’t forget it. If the New York Attorney General starts to take his homes away, starts to seize his assets, it’s all going to be on camera. Pundits are going to sit there and scream about this, this man cannot be elected. You’re going to create the greatest victimhood of 2024, and you’re going to elect Donald Trump,” Luntz said.
Luntz said Trump’s critics have badly mismanaged opposing him so far.
“If they take his stuff, he’s going to say that this is proof that the federal government and the establishment and the swamp in Washington and all the politicians across the country and the attorneys general and all of this, that this is a conspiracy to deny him the presidency. He’s going to go up in the polls just like he went up every single time they indicted him,” Luntz added.
He added, “The indictment, let’s not talk about whether it’s justified or not, but it will prove the things that he’s saying on the campaign trail, and he will go up, and it may just elect him president. Do not forget that. And I say this to the Attorney General right now: if you play politics on this, this is what the secretaries of state did in Colorado and what they did in, I believe, Maine. His numbers went up in both states.”
He noted Trump is currently leading or competitive in key swing states despite multiple investigations and a improving economy under Biden.
Luntz concluded Trump’s critics don’t understand voters and are orchestrating their own failure to stop his potential reelection.
“I don’t understand. I’m almost speechless in how pathetic the opposition to Trump has been and how completely misguided, and this is a perfect example of it…How is Donald Trump beating Joe Biden? He’s got 85 indictments that still exist, felonies. How is he beating Joe Biden with the economy getting better and things cleaning up? Okay. We got – you still have inflation. You still got immigration. Trump is leading. And in the seven swing states, Trump is up by the margin of error in five out of seven. Why is that happening?” Luntz asked.
“Because his critics are stupid, and they’re running a horrible campaign. And for those people who do not want Joe – Donald Trump back, they should be thankful that the people who are orchestrating his loss are as pathetic and they don’t understand the American people,” he said.
