Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said late Wednesday that he sees similarities to former President Reagan in Donald Trump, predicting that the real estate mogul will surprise viewers during the first GOP presidential debate.
{mosads}“First of all, he’s not a Roman candle,” Giuliani told host Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball”
“This is a very smart guy,” he said of Trump. “This is a person who is media-savvy in ways that some of the other candidates aren’t.”
“So we might have a little bit of Ronald Reagan here, a guy they underestimate,” Giuliani added. “But I expect Donald Trump is going to do pretty darn well tomorrow night.”
Giuliani additionally charged that Trump will catch the other candidates off-guard by flexing his policy muscles for the first time in the debate.
“He’s a lot more substantive than you realize,” Giuliani told Matthews. “Meaning, he understands a lot of the world issues with a lot more depth than you probably realize.”
Trump headlines Thursday night’s mainstage GOP presidential debate on Fox News against nine other White House hopefuls.
The New York billionaire is currently the front-runner for the Republican nomination in multiple national polls.