Pollster Frank Luntz said on Wednesday that it is remarkable former President Donald Trump is making it a tight race with President Joe Biden in Minnesota.
Trump lost Minnesota in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, with Biden presently leading the former president by 2.3% in a two-way race, according to the RealClearPolling average. Luntz, on “CNN News Central,” described the race being “close” in such a Democratic-leaning state as noteworthy and highlighted the significance of Trump polling well against Biden despite his recent felony conviction.
“To me, it’s not that Donald Trump is winning so big in Iowa. That’s not the story. It’s that he’s making it close in Minnesota. Minnesota is a reliable Democratic state, it votes Democrat in every presidential campaign. In poll after poll, I see Trump within two or three points in Minnesota. I don’t think the media understands exactly what’s going on right now,” Luntz said.
WATCH:
‘Oh My God’: Frank Luntz Impressed Trump ‘Making It Close’ Race In ‘Reliable’ Dem State After Conviction pic.twitter.com/k8W5MJFRJo
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 19, 2024
“Yes, Trump dropped a few points after being found guilty on 34 felony counts. But remember this, that would have destroyed any candidate as recently as 10 years ago,” he continued. “And the fact that Donald Trump is still even with, or in some cases leading, Joe Biden after being found guilty of 34 felonies, oh my God, that is so significant.”
A Manhattan jury convicted Trump in late May of 34 counts of falsifying business documents to conceal a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. The former president’s campaign announced it raked in nearly $55 million in around 24 hours after the verdict, and Trump is currently leading Biden by .8% nationally, according to the RealClearPolling average.
Luntz said in March that Arizona and Nevada will serve as important bellwethers in the upcoming election due to their substantial Latino populations, making them potentially representative of the country as a whole.
“The Latino vote, 20%, can be 20% of the electorate,” he had said. “To me that’s the deciding vote and if they switch in Arizona, in Nevada, I would expect it to be happening nationwide, so watching those two states are my indicator of what’s going to happen in 2024.”
Trump is also performing exceptionally well with young black voters, leading CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten on Monday to say the former president is “careening towards a historic performance” with the key demographic.
“I’m like speechless because you always look at history and you go, ‘okay, this is a historic moment.’ If this polling is anywhere near correct, we’re looking at a historic moment right now, where black voters under the age of 50, which have historically been such a big part of the democratic coalition, are leaving in droves,” Enten said.
