Donald Trump’s chief pollster predicted Tuesday that the former president’s campaign would “win Florida by double digits,” blowing out his previous victories in the state.
“I’m old enough to remember when Florida was the ultimate swing state in presidential elections,” campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio said during a Florida Senate delegation meeting at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. “Florida will not be a swing state this election.”
Trump won Florida by 3.3 points in 2020, which at the time was seen as a fairly wide margin.
President Joe Biden said in April that Florida was in play for Democrats after the abortion rights initiative made it on the November ballot. Biden’s campaign chairperson undermined that claim in June when she said Florida is not a battleground state.
Further underscoring the point, Trump’s political director said during Tuesday’s event the campaign would likely be asking Florida’s volunteers to help out in other more contested states like Georgia and North Carolina.
Fabrizio also predicted that North Carolina and Arizona — two swing states in 2020 — would be solidly Republican come November.
“The toss-up states now are Virginia, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico,” Fabrizio said. “And we’re looking at Maine.”
As of June, Trump has over $40 million more in cash on hand than Biden in his campaign and outside groups supporting it, according to the nonprofit campaign finance website OpenSecrets. On Monday, tech billionaire Elon Musk committed to giving Trump’s super PAC $45 million a month, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“While Joe Biden spent $150 million on TV ads, we have spent goose egg,” Fabrizio said. “This campaign has not spent a dollar on TV ads yet.”
Fabrizio added: “And get ready, they’re coming.”