Trump admits he only cares about the small number of voters who elected him

Trump told Time magazine he has no interest in reaching out to independent voters in an interview released Thursday, doubling-down on riling up his base heading into the 2020 election.

Trump was asked about reaching out to swing voters over the next 18 months but said he is not interested: “I think my base is so strong, I’m not sure that I have to do that.”

According to Gallup, only 30% of voters identify as Republicans, presumably Trump’s base, while 31% identify as Democrats and roughly 40% of Americans who identify as independent voters.

National polling shows Trump’s current outreach methods aren’t working. A Quinnipiac University poll from June has him losing to every single top candidate in the poll: Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

And Trump is losing support in key swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, three states that he barely won in 2016. Republican operatives are even worried that Trump’s deep unpopularity outside of his base is threatening the GOP’s ability to retain control of the Senate in 2020.

At the same time Trump says he is not concerned about two-thirds of voters, his campaign announced the launch of “Latinos for Trump” in Miami next week, unveiling the effort the day before the 2020 Democratic candidates participate in their first debate.

Trump lost the Latino vote in 2016 by a 66-28 margin to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. During his 2016 campaign, and during his time in office, Trump has unleashed racist attacks on immigrants from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and all of Africa, while welcoming immigrants from white-majority countries like Norway.

Even if Trump’s campaign makes overtures to folks that are not in Trump’s base, Trump made his position crystal clear. According to Time, most incumbent presidents “would appeal for four more years by pledging to unite the country.”

Despite losing the popular vote to Clinton by millions of votes, Trump has decided against uniting the country, opting instead to focus his message and policies to a small sliver of the country.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.