Ted Cruz Predicts ‘Staggering Democratic Turnout In 2020,’ Says Trump Could ‘Absolutely’ Lose
In a Friday interview with PBS, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said that President Donald Trump could “absolutely” lose in 2020, predicting a “staggering Democratic turnout,” Newsweek reports.
“I personally handicap the 2020 election as a coin flip; I think it’s about 50-50,” he said.
“I want to see the president reelected, I’m working hard to help the president get reelected and think he certainly can get reelected. But I think we are gonna see staggering Democratic turnout in 2020.”
To illustrate his point, Cruz turned to his 2018 Senate race, when Democrat Beto O’Rourke — now a presidential candidate — almost defeated him, losing by a margin of less than three percentage points in what is traditionally a red state. According to the senator, his race was a “crystal ball for what the country will look like” come time for President Trump’s reelection.
The main reason for this is the anger that Democratic voters feel, according to Cruz.
“And the reason is, look, anger is a powerful motivator, and the far left is pissed,” he said, without immediately explaining what he means by “far left.”
Cruz refrained from making predictions about which Democrat will end up challenging Trump in the general election, but he noted that he believes that the Democratic nominee will “come from the far left.”
Cruz clarified that he believes Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Elizabeth Warren are all on the “far left.”
However, farthest to the left of all Democratic presidential candidates is Bernie Sanders, who — as The New Republic noted — is offering an upgraded version of New Deal liberalism, championing policies which have been the status quo in many developed nations for half a century, such as socialized healthcare.
According to Cruz, the Democratic Party has moved so far to the left that candidates such as Joe Biden — who is currently the front-runner — do not stand a chance.
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“I think where the Democratic primary is, their energy, their passion, their anger is on the extreme left,” he insisted, adding that many of his Republican colleagues hope that Sanders, Warren, or Harris will win the Democratic primary.
Cruz does not feel that way, he revealed, stating that Trump will “not necessarily” win against either of the three candidates.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of polling data, Biden is the absolute front-runner, leading the rest of the primary field by double digits.
According to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Biden, Sanders, and Warren would all beat Trump in the general. Harris is tied with the president, according to the survey.
