John Sununu on impact of coronavirus on Trump's poll numbers
Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu reacts to Trump's dropping poll numbers.
Amid concerns about the recent spikes in coronavirus cases across several states, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu said on Monday that President Trump “gear his messaging" on the coronavirus to reflect the "reality" in the country.
“The pandemic has been a problem and, I think, the president and the administration and Republicans across the board running in November have to understand that they are going to be judged in November not on how the pandemic was handled from January until now, they’re going to be judged on how it was handled from now until the election,” Sununu told “America's Newsroom."
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A stretch of lackluster polling for President Trump has some Republican operatives nervous about the president’s reelection prospects in November – with some even floating the possibility for the first time that Trump could drop out if his poll numbers don’t rebound.
“It’s too early, but if the polls continue to worsen, you can see a scenario where he drops out,” one GOP operative who asked to remain anonymous told Fox News.
“I’ve heard the talk but I doubt it’s true,” another said. “My bet is, he drops if he believes there’s no way to win.”
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Trump’s poll numbers in recent weeks have trended downward amid criticism over his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the White House's response to the protests and riots following the death of George Floyd in late May while in Minneapolis police custody.
A recent Fox News poll had the president trailing Democrat Joe Biden by 12 points, while a RealClearPolitics average of polls had Trump down almost 10 points to the former vice president. Biden also was leading Trump in many key battleground states, and polls from Republican strongholds such as Texas had Trump and Biden neck and neck.
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Sununu said Trump should “stop saying the coronavirus is going to go away.”
“Let people know that this is a real second wave. Let them know that it may be a third wave. Stop trying to get credit for what you did in New York,” Sununu said.
“You’re not going to get credit for that. But, start trying to do things in Texas, Arizona and Florida that you can get credit for and show how positive our response is, how prepared we are for additional waves, and show that the country has learned from the first cycle and that we’re going to handle what happens between now and November, between now and the end of the year, in a constructive positive way.”
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