Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told Newsmax on Wednesday that it appears "the experts, once again, underpolled" President-elect Donald Trump, given the historic political comeback that resulted in his winning back the White House on Tuesday night.
The Republican governor told "Wake Up America" that pollsters seem to have "underestimated" the "power of the so-called Trump stealth vote, or those people who may not want to answer polls for various reasons."
"They, again, missed it, and missed it big time," Pawlenty said. "But I do think this opportunity for him on these issues that he has run on — uncontrolled illegal immigration, inflation, crime, wokeness run amok — gives the Republicans an incredible chance now to deliver on the promises made during this campaign. And I think he's really well-suited to do it, especially with a Republican Senate and perhaps even now, a Republican Congress. It will be historic."
Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democrat opponent in the 2024 presidential race, did not address supporters Tuesday night and Pawlenty said that he hopes when she speaks to the nation later on Wednesday that her message will be one of reconciliation.
"In terms of what I hope she'll say today, I hope she and the Democratic Party will now, after calling Donald Trump all these names — a threat to democracy, a fascist, all these things — come out and say, 'You know what? We are now coming together as a country as best we can,'" he said. "They don't have to say they're supporting Donald Trump, but they at least need to say we respect the American people, the vote totals, and we're going to do all we can for an orderly transition."
Pawlenty said he was sure Harris was "shocked" by the outcome of the race, but said that ultimately "she was an underwhelming vice president," who "ran an underwhelming campaign."
"She did have some attempts to pivot back to the center, but it was too little, too late," he said. "And I think the Democrats are going to go through this whole self-reflection or introspection about what's our party about. And again, that day will come. But the conclusion is she wasn't a good candidate, and she wasn't running on the right issues and was too far left for the country."
Harris campaign door-knocking efforts in Pennsylvania last week didn't move the needle, Pawlenty said, because "a knock on the door does not overcome a bad candidate."
"When you're having to pay 20% more for your bread, your milk, other items, you can barely make it from paycheck to paycheck, getting a knock on the door doesn't mean much," he said.
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