State Republicans Predict ‘Landslide’ for ‘Teflon Trump’ Despite Tanking Poll Numbers
NOT WORRIED YET
President Trump’s poll numbers may be tanking as the economy falls apart, mass protests take place across the nation, and the novel coronavirus keeps killing people—but local Republican officials sound surprisingly confident about November’s election. Politico spoke to more than 50 state, district, and county Republican Party chairs who seem to believe that each fresh catastrophe in the U.S. only solidifies support behind the president. “The more bad things happen in the country, it just solidifies support for Trump,” said Phillip Stephens, GOP chairman in Robeson County, North Carolina. “We’re calling him ‘Teflon Trump.’ Nothing’s going to stick, because if anything, it’s getting more exciting than it was in 2016.” Stephens added: “We’re thinking landslide.” However, Trump has fallen behind Biden in most swing-state polls, and trails the former vice president nationally by more than 8 percentage points. The president seems less confident than local party officials, and has privately expressed concerns about his recent internal polling numbers.