Republican National Convention should be about America, not Donald Trump: GOP strategist Frank Luntz
The Republican National Convention should focus more on the story of America and less on the story of President Donald Trump, veteran GOP strategist and pollster Frank Luntz said on ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast Tuesday.
"Donald Trump's single best line in the 2016 convention is when he said, 'I will be your voice.' Now, in 2020, everything is about his voice...his victimhood, his grievances, how he's been mistreated," Luntz told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein.
Luntz said that part of the president’s success in 2016 boiled down to the fact that Americans felt they were being heard by the then-candidate.
"I believe he has lost some of that now. It's been too much about him and not enough about them. And that's what I'm listening for every night: Is this a speech about America, or a speech about Donald Trump? If it's about America he once again can recapture exactly what he needs," he said.
Luntz said simply promoting the president won’t be enough to beat Joe Biden in November.
"If you're just promoting Donald Trump that will not get you to 50% of the vote. It has to be about a better life for America. And they have to feel like they're a part of that communication. That's exactly what Tim Scott did yesterday. Nobody else really reached that level," he said, referring to the senator from South Carolina.
A prominent theme thus far in Republican programming is the power of incumbency. On Monday night, pre-recorded clips showed the president meeting with freed hostages at the White House and Tuesday’s programming is expected to feature Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivering his address while in Israel on official duties.
Trump is also anticipated to deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night from the White House South Lawn while Melania Trump is expected to deliver her remarks from the newly renovated Rose Garden.
"It's interesting that he is using all of the symbolism of the White House. I mean literally they're building the convention stage for his convention acceptance speech on the South Lawn. The First Lady, we will hear from her right out of the Rose Garden," Karl said. "I mean, what do you make of all that? Is there anything he won't do to try to win this election."
"Every campaign is unique, every candidate is different. I don't hold that against him. I was more upset with, with brief elements of the tone yesterday," Luntz said. "Americans don't want to be yelled at. And they were genuinely yelled at by several of the people who spoke prime time yesterday. And it's wrong and it turns voters off."
"I think that they are making decisions -- at least based on the first night -- on what they like and what they appreciate, as opposed to what the average American wants to see and wants to hear," he added. "Mike Pompeo speaking from Israel is actually pretty cool. And voters will appreciate that because he's there on official business."
Monday’s first night of RNC programming included speeches about American culture -- with many speakers attacking Democrats for their positions on issues including the ways the wish to address systemic racism.
RNC speakers also defended Trump against accusations of racism, instead insisting that is Biden's problem.
"What do you read as the intent of messaging like this telling the American people that the country is not racist and that Donald Trump isn't racist -- and that Joe Biden, if anything, the suggestion here is the one who's a racist," Klein asked Luntz.
Luntz said he thinks that message is simply a way to address a problem area for the president.
"They realize that the accusation hurts the president -- it hurts the president not among Black or Latino voters, but among white, moderate voters -- that they felt that they had to respond to it, that if Trump gets labeled that way and that label sticks, it's problematic for him," Luntz said.
Luntz said there have been changes in both the Democratic and Republican parties and that there is "no sense of common ground" between the two.
"And that bothers me, not as a pollster, but as an American," he said.
"There's no sense of even trying, even attempting to work across the aisle. The Republican Party has become a party of Donald Trump, and the Democratic Party's become a party of AOC and Bernie Sanders. And Joe Biden may be the standard bearer but the actual policies itself have changed, fundamentally," he added.
