Prominent Republican pollster Frank Luntz blasted President Trump and his campaign on Tuesday for focusing on Hunter Biden in the stretch run to Election Day, calling Trump’s campaign the worst he’s ever seen and saying the president’s advisers should be “brought up on charges of political malpractice.”
Speaking at a briefing for the British strategic advising company Global Counsel, Luntz said Trump’s advisers have “their heads up their asses” if they think Hunter Biden will be a winning issue for them.
“I’ve never seen a campaign more mis-calibrated than the Trump campaign. Frankly, his staff ought to be brought up on charges of political malpractice,” Luntz said.
“It is the worst campaign I’ve ever seen and I’ve been watching them since 1980. They’re on the wrong issues. They’re on the wrong message. They’ve got their heads up their assess. … Your damn job is to get your candidate to talk about things that are relevant to the people you need to reach. And if you can’t do your damn job then get out.”
The Trump campaign has been running ads and holding daily briefings to draw attention to allegations that Hunter Biden sought to profit off his father’s political connections.
Trump on Tuesday called on Attorney General William Barr to investigate Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s son before Election Day.
“We have got to get the attorney general to act,” Trump said, pointing to a story about Hunter Biden’s business dealings in the New York Post. “He’s got to act and he’s got to act fast.”
“This is major corruption and this has to be known about before the election,” Trump added.
The Post story, which other news outlets have been unable to confirm, alleged that Hunter Biden acted as an intermediary to arrange a meeting between his father, who was vice president at the time, and the Ukrainian gas firm Burisma Holdings.
The Biden campaign has said there was no meeting recorded on the former vice president’s official schedule. Other critics have suggested the story could be part of a Russian disinformation effort.
Regardless, Luntz, who was once the pollster for former Speaker Newt Gingrich, pointed to polls showing the economy and coronavirus are the issues voters care most about.
“Nobody cares about Hunter Biden … why is [Trump] spending all his time on him?” Luntz asked. “Hunter Biden does not help put food on the table. Hunter Biden does not help anyone get a job. Hunter Biden does not provide health care or solve COVID. And Donald Trump spends all of his time focused on that and nobody cares.”
Luntz said his focus groups revealed that Trump lost the first debate badly to Biden, tipping a substantial number of undecided voters into the Democratic nominee’s column.
“Our undecided focus group participants called [Trump] some pretty awful names,” Luntz said.
The GOP pollster said Trump must record a game-changing moment against Biden at the final debate Thursday to have a chance to win the election.
“If Donald Trump doesn’t score a knockout then there’s not enough campaigning or mindshare to give him a chance to catch Joe Biden,” Luntz said.