NBC national political correspondent Steve Kornacki said Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump has “made great strides” in the popular vote as he attracts a “more diverse” coalition of Republicans.
Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris early Wednesday morning, securing the 270 electoral votes needed to become president. On “Meet the Press,” hosted by Kristen Welker, Kornacki outlined the Republican gains among Hispanic, young voters and black voters in the election. (Related article: ‘Profit margins are falling’: Steve Kornacki outlines how Trump reversed swing states)
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“He did that by transforming the Republican Party. It’s now even more diverse than it has been in modern times, and certainly far more diverse than it was when Donald Trump first came on the scene eight years ago.” There are many ways to look at it,” Kornacki said. “What about this? When I say pre-Trump, I mean the last presidential election before Donald Trump started running. For that, we have to go back to 2012. For the third consecutive election, Trump was the Republican nominee. Remember, before Trump, voters under 30 favored Democrats by a 23-point margin, compared to those with incomes of less than $50,000 who favored Democrats by 22 points and those without a college degree. “Democrats got 4 points, which was before Trump.”
“What’s coming out of this election? Look at some of these changes. Young people voting, the Democratic lead cut by more than half; voters with less than $50,000 becoming a Republican district; college degrees “Voters who don’t have the same thing took notice of that change, and it’s now a core Republican constituency,” Kornacki continued. “Then you can talk about race and ethnicity, and this goes into the diversity I mentioned earlier. Check this out. Before Trump and now. Black votes are still overwhelmingly Democratic, but Democrats 87 points to 72 points. How about this? We’ve heard a lot about this this week, and the numbers are: It used to be 44 points Democratic, but now it’s basically a voting district, and Asian Americans have similarly changed by 32 points since Donald Trump became the standard bearer eight years ago. That’s what’s happened to the Republican Party ever since.”
Since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the top Democratic candidate, she has regained some support from Hispanic voters in pre-election polls, but she still fell short of Biden’s numbers in the 2020 election. Ta. Kornacki also said the new coalition has helped Trump make “significant gains” in states such as California and Illinois, helping him close the margins he lost and increase his popular vote.
“The other big topic has to do with the popular vote and how President Trump pulled it off, and that’s one answer,” Kornacki said. “It’s a big, blue state with a very diverse population. With this new coalition that Donald Trump has formed, we haven’t won any of them, but we’ve made great strides.”
Republicans gained four seats in the Senate and were favorites to control the House as of Sunday morning.
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