Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume on Sunday argued that while former President Trump could win the November election, voters' dislike of him makes him "not a majority candidate."
When asked on "Fox News Sunday" why Trump is struggling to hold on to a lead over Vice President Harris in spite of polling showing most voters are displeased with the state of the country, Hume said, "Because he's Trump."
"When you get down to it, the past eight to 10 years have been about Donald Trump. Everything has been about Donald Trump," he continued. "I don’t think that the Democrats would have let Joe Biden get as far as he did if it wasn’t — if the party hadn’t been confident that the Republicans were going to nominate Donald Trump again, which the Republicans did.”
Trump's lead in the 2024 presidential race has narrowed in recent weeks following Harris entering the presidential race on the Democratic presidential ticket.
While Trump has a "very hard, solid base of support," Hume argued, it does not go above 40 to 45 percent.
"So, his weakness is the predicate for our politics going back now three elections," Hume said. "He was able to surmount Hillary Clinton, a uniquely unpopular opponent, but he couldn’t beat Biden, and you know, you look at the losses in the midterms — or the disappointing results in the midterms — it's all about one thing, it's about that."
In the end, the enthusiasm felt among his supporters will not be enough to make him a "majority candidate," Hume said.
"Donald Trump, no matter how enthusiastic his supporters are, nonetheless, is not a majority candidate. He might win, but he's not a majority candidate," he said.
Since replacing President Biden last month, Harris quickly consolidated Democratic support, with many national and swing-state polls showing her closing the gap with Trump. According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s national polling average, she has a 1.8 percentage point lead over Trump based on an aggregate of 120 polls.
Political pundits have suggested that Harris's boost could be due to a variety of factors, including renewed enthusiasm following a tumultuous few weeks for Biden and Trump's personality and tendency to lean heavily on insults.
Trump, known for his brash comments, faced a growing number of calls from GOP members to focus his rhetoric more on policy differences with Harris — and less on personal attacks.
As Harris climbs in the polls, the former president has repeatedly bashed her, calling her “incompetent” and even questioning her on her racial identity.
Trump has brushed off the surge for Harris and suggested the “honeymoon” phase will end.
