Conservative columnist Byron York told President Donald Trump to his face that Republicans are going to lose the House. Trump didn’t buy it.
York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, spoke with Trump aboard Air Force One on the way to a rally in Sioux City, Iowa. He asked whether Trump thinks the GOP will lose the House despite the excitement at his rallies.
Trump asked York what he thought first. York said yes, he thinks the GOP is going to lose.
“People say that,” Trump said. “I just don’t see it. There’s such enthusiasm. You’ll see, you’ll go there today.”
When York asked about his approval rating, Trump dismissed it. The RealClearPolitics average puts it at 38.8% approval and 60.4% disapproval.
“It’s fake,” Trump said. “It’s fake... The job approval, they said it’s 37, 38? I’m not at 38.”
Asked where he thought it actually stood, Trump said: “I don’t believe I could be beaten by anybody. I think that if I needed it, which I don’t, I think 60.”
He then asked an aide to show York a clip of CNN data analyst Harry Enten saying that 98% of MAGA Republicans approve of Trump.
“Show him the 99%. Have you seen it?” Trump said.
York pressed him on whether his huge rally crowds might give him a distorted picture.
“Do you ever think that you get such big, adoring crowds, and it’s almost like a bubble?” York asked. “These 10,000 people, man, they love me, but the larger electorate, I’ve got to win their votes.”
“I always cater to my base,” Trump said. “My base is big. I think my base is close to 100% of the Republican Party.”
When York pointed out that his base isn’t the whole party, Trump replied, “I think it’s close. I think the Bushes have largely faded. They’re gone.”
Trump also insisted the economy is booming.
“I might be wrong,” he said. “The country’s never done better. People feel good. The gasoline’s a little high, but it’s coming down.”
York noted that Trump’s critics would “scoff” at the “never done better” claim. Inflation was 3% when Trump took office and is 3.7% now, and the Iran war has driven up gas and food prices. York wrote that Trump “sometimes views his Republican base as if it is the electorate as a whole.”
“He spends much of his time among people who revere him,” York wrote. “Viewed from that perspective, a job approval rating of 38.8% just doesn’t make any sense.”
York also gave Trump credit for his economic pitch on the trail and argued he had little choice but to stay upbeat.
“But what should he do? Tell his party that they’re going to lose?” York wrote. “If he appears to lose hope, they will, too.”