Journalist: If Trump Does These Two Things 'He Still Wins The Race'

3 months ago

Keli Goff, a Daily Beast columnist and Emmy-nominated producer of the documentary "Reversing Roe," spoke with ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath about Vice President Kamala Harris vs. former President Donald Trump.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Interesting. Now, of course, in the first 24 hours after President Biden's announcement that he is dropping out of the race,

00:09Vice President Harris's new campaign has raised millions and millions of dollars.

00:15I think the final tally was somewhere just over 80 million dollars from grassroots donors in 24 hours.

00:22Does that number signal to you that maybe her likability is evolving and her electability is better?

00:30I mean, I know you published this piece yesterday, so you saw these numbers.

00:33So I imagine I had friends who were on the call. I had friends who were on the call.

00:37And the call you referenced, I just want to be very clear.

00:40Was that the Zoom call with forty four thousand other black women that's made headlines around the world?

00:46So there is excitement. I guess my question to you is, is there enough excitement?

00:52We'll find out in November. I mean, you know, I say in this piece, Maggie, I'm not a Trump fan.

00:56I'm very clear about that. So I make it clear in the piece that my hope is that in November, late November,

01:02all my friends who who don't like this piece and didn't agree with it are able to tease me about how wrong I was.

01:08But, you know, guess what? A few years ago, they weren't teasing me because I was wrong about the possibility of Donald Trump winning the first time.

01:16So that's why I think this time people really need to take a step back and have some of the tough conversations that were not had before,

01:23because people were so swept up in the emotion of making history with the first female president.

01:28Remember, those magazine covers had been printed celebrating Hillary Clinton as the first female president.

01:33And I now look back and think that if some tougher questions had been asked, not just about likability,

01:39but actually the numbers of what the data was telling us of what people thought and why,

01:43I think there'd be less PTSD, as you point out.

01:46And that's what I'm concerned about this time, is that those numbers are great.

01:50The call is great. The fundraising is great.

01:52Guess what? She was one of the best fundraisers out of the gate when she ran for president last time and everyone saw how that turned out.

01:58So I think that's my concern is my question is, that's great.

02:02If the same people who were supporting her before and enthusiastic before are equally enthusiastic this time.

02:09My question is about the people who she has not reached yet, because here's my theory.

02:13I actually think people are looking at not looking at the big picture of the data.

02:18I think they're so focused on the voters that Trump can't win without remembering.

02:25He actually doesn't have to win a lot more voters. All he has to do is suppress turnout and enthusiasm for her.

02:30And if he can find a way to pick off some of those people who don't like her for whatever reason and convinces them either to stay home or to vote for Bobby Kennedy,

02:41which is some of the stuff I've heard, then he still wins the race.

02:44I think that's what people are forgetting, is that, well, which black women are going to go and vote for Trump?

02:49That doesn't actually have to happen if they're just not enthusiastic.

02:52And he suppresses turnout even just a little bit, as we've seen from the last couple elections, that can make a difference.

Journalist: If Trump Does These Two Things 'He Still Wins The Race'

Category

Transcript

Recommended