Sahil Kapur: Democrats Worried Donald Trump Could Win with Working Class Voters

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by KEN KLUKOWSKI28 Mar 2016Washington, DC57

WASHINGTON—Democrats are worried about Donald Trump’s possible path to victory by mobilizing working-class voters on the issue of trade, according to Bloomberg writer Sahil Kapur. Though the GOP frontrunner’s path to ultimate victory would still be “extremely difficult,” Kapur said, “people should not completely write him off on this, and a lot of Democrats are increasingly taking him seriously.”

Kapur is a political analyst with Bloomberg News, and spoke today with Breitbart News Executive Chariman Stephen K. Bannon onBreitbart News Daily. He explained that he was spending time talking with Democrats, who originally considered the billionaire a laughingstock, but are shifting to the opinion that his bombastic style and antics—tactics that in previous election cycles were toxic for other candidates—have instead proven effective for Trump.

As a consequence, “Democrats are a little more nervous than they were” about the prospect of possibly facing Trump in November. Specifically, Democrats are concerned about Trump’s message resonating with blue-collar voters in Rust Belt states, such as Ohio.

Kapur characterized Trump’s rhetoric on women, immigrants, and others as a “double-edged sword.” Many of his comments that alarm many voters also mobilize a sizable block of voters to support him. While it is “far from clear” that a general-election audience will respond favorably to such statements, it is clear that they resonate with many voters participating in the Republican primaries.

While many experts regard Trump as “a dead man walking” in terms of the general election, Kapur says that Trump faces long odds, but does have a possible route to victory:

The mathematical path to victory that I found most plausible—if he does have one—is essentially he needs to win Florida and flip three out of four midwestern states that President Obama won in 2012… That’s going to be an extremely difficult task, but the issue of trade and unorthodox policy proscriptions he’s put on the table mean that I don’t think people should not completely write him off on this, and a lot of Democrats are increasingly taking him seriously.

Listen to the entire interview here:

Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125 weekdays from 6:00AM to 9:00AM EST.

Ken Klukowski is legal editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter@kenklukowski.

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Bloomberg editor quits: We can't cover Michael Bloomberg aggressively

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Bloomberg Politics editor Kathy Kiely quit over what she said were restrictions on covering Bloomberg politically.

Kathy Kiely, the Washington news director at Bloomberg Politics, said she resigned from her post after growing uncomfortable with the way her outlet responded to news that Bloomberg is considering an independent White House bid.

Kiely's resignation was first reported by the Huffington Post.

"I was not comfortable with how we were reacting to this story and I didn't see any indication that the situation was going to improve soon," Kiely told CNNMoney on Wednesday. "I think that every candidate should be covered the same way."

The New York Times reported last Saturday that Bloomberg, the billionaire mogul and former three-term mayor of NYC, has "taken concrete steps" toward a potential White House run. Bloomberg Politics aggregated the Times report that day with a brief post. Kiely submitted her letter of resignation on Sunday.

Related: Donald Trump goes after Mike Bloomberg where it hurts

"I agonized about it because I really like the people I work with at Bloomberg," Kiely said. "We built a team and we built a website, and I admire my colleagues very much. But I've been a political journalist all my life and I felt I was not able to do the job I should be doing."

Kiely declined to say if there was a directive on how to handle Bloomberg's latest presidential trial balloon. When asked what specifically prompted the resignation, she said, "I just think the fact that we didn't jump on the story the way other organizations did. I was not comfortable with that."

Bloomberg Politics reporters and commentators have covered the story about Bloomberg's political ambitions since Kiely turned in her resignation. Mark Halperin, the managing editor of Bloomberg Politics, discussed the story Monday on both MSNBC and Bloomberg TV. On Wednesday, the site ran a story on the "bleak history of third-party presidential bids."

Ty Trippet, a spokesman for Bloomberg News, defended the company's coverage.

"We've covered the speculation every day since the Times story was published," Trippet said. "Our Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait is in charge of decisions about coverage."

Kiely said she hopes her resignation "might help the folks who are trying to do the right thing."

"I think there are a lot of people at Bloomberg who are trying in their own way to allow a really good news organization to do the good work it's capable of," she said. "And this was my way."

CNNMoney (New York) First published January 27, 2016: 7:32 PM ET

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