MSNBC host Chris Matthews predicted there is a good chance President Trump will win reelection.
“There’s so many things moving right now in Trump’s direction,” Matthews said during the network’s daylong coverage of the Senate impeachment trial. “The latest RealClearPolitics numbers on him are moving up. I don’t know why, exactly, but there’s something that makes people — if I’m a Republican, I’m saying, ‘Damn it, there’s only one party, it’s called the ‘Trump Party,’ and I’ve got to live there.”
Matthews cited high Republican registration in places like Pennsylvania as evidence of a boost for Trump.
“I’ve talked to somebody about Pennsylvania who knows exactly about Pennsylvania … Registration is going through the roof up there with Republicans,” Matthews said. “And there’s issues like fracking, which will kill at least two of the Democratic candidates up there.”
Trump is experiencing record levels of support among Republicans, with his approval rating among likely party voters eclipsing 90% in recent months.
Thousands of people attended Trump’s recent campaign event in Wildwood, New Jersey, in what Matthews called an “incredible show.” Trump has another rally in Des Moines, Iowa, scheduled for Thursday evening.
“So, I think the Trump thing is moving a little bit in his direction in the past couple of weeks,” Matthews said.
The Trump reelection campaign is betting that the impeachment against Trump will energize the Republican base in places such as Michigan and Ohio and offset some decline the GOP has experienced nationwide in the suburbs and among women.
Impeachment remains largely unpopular across the country, recent polling shows.
At the same time, Matthews said, Democrats lack a candidate with the same zest Trump brings to his more ardent supporters.
“Maybe they don’t have a candidate that thrills them,” Matthews said. “That could be it — thrills them like Hillary did for a lot of people, like Barack Obama certainly did. Maybe that’s it. Nobody’s thrilling them.”
