Donald Trump often compares himself to America’s 40th president, Ronald Reagan. But the confident New York billionaire is now taking it even further, claiming the “intensity” behind his presidential campaign is far superior to the Reagan Revolution.
“I think that the closest thing I can think of is Reagan,” Trump told Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin and John Heilemann during a radio interview this week. “But I don’t think it’s the intensity that we have.”
He continued, “Now, Reagan had a little bit of this, but I don’t think to the same extent — but he also won.”
Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a landslide election in 1980, winning 44 states and edging Carter by 10 percentage points in the popular vote.
Trump, who frequently attracts crowds in the tens of thousands to his signature campaign rallies, also pushed back on the notion that his supporters are unlikely to mobilize for the upcoming Iowa caucuses or show up to vote in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.
“It’s not just like, ‘Gee. It’s a little political rally and people are showing up to have fun,'” he said. “These people are committed.”
“Why would a person stand in line for seven hours and then not want to go into a voting booth? It takes 10 minutes. So I think they’re going to vote,” he added.
Trump, who’s first in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings, currently leads the GOP field both nationally in the Granite State. He is set to take center stage for the sixth GOP debate Thursday, which will air live on Fox Business Network at 9 p.m. ET.
