New York Rep. Peter King thinks his home state could turn red in a general election battle between presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
King, who recently announced he plans to support Trump but refuses to actively campaign for the billionaire, said “it is possible” the native New Yorker could flip the Empire State to the Republicans.
“It is possible,” King told MSNBC on Friday. “I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and November. He could do extremely well in the suburbs [and] extremely well upstate and then it could depend on Manhattan.”
“For the first time in years, we are now reaching out to blue-collar Democrats. He’s bringing back in those Reagan Democrats,” he said. “So politically, it can strengthen the base of the Republican Party if we don’t lose too many people in the meantime.”
The New York Republican also suggested that Trump’s behavior in the first general election debate against Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, could change voters’ minds in his home state.
“That first debate between him and Hillary, she could end up looking like Jeb Bush during the debate,” King said. “Very knowledgeable, very smart, but just not ready for this hurricane that’s going to come at her – and that could have an impact.”
