“I want to put the Republican leadership behind this mirror and let them see. They need to wake up. They don’t realize how the grassroots have abandoned them. Donald Trump is punishment to a Republican elite that wasn’t listening to their grassroots.”
Pollster Frank Luntz was left in absolute astonishment Monday night by the results of a focus group who espoused support for Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, despite watching a series of video clips which some might use to undermine his campaign.
Luntz played for the 29-person focus group a series of videos which showed apparent flip-flops, derogatory comments toward women and his brash manner when laying out policy, Time reported. The group was made up of 23 White people, three Black people and three Hispanics — mostly college educated and financially comfortable.
But, despite this, most were still committed to the real estate tycoon — some even more than when they entered the room.
“You guys understand how significant this is?” Luntz reportedly asked the press, who observed the polling, after the results were in. “This is real. I’m having trouble processing it. Like, my legs are shaking.”
“I want to put the Republican leadership behind this mirror and let them see. They need to wake up. They don’t realize how the grassroots have abandoned them,” Luntz continued, according to Time. “Donald Trump is punishment to a Republican elite that wasn’t listening to their grassroots.”
The group reacted strongly to Trump’s promise to put an end to illegal immigration and strengthen the U.S. military.
“We love our country and we love what our country stands for,” one woman told Time. “I look at where we are now as a country where entitlements are just totally out of control. Our borders have completely dissolved. We’re not what we used to be. I want to people to represent my interest.”
Another woman, who voted for Obama twice, said she liked that Trump was “not afraid.”
“He keeps prodding on even if people give him negative press. He doesn’t change and apologize,” she told Time.
The focus group was somewhat significant. After the first Republican presidential debate, hosted by Fox News, Luntz found himself the target of some of Trump’s ire when his focus group suggested the billionaire’s performance had caused him to lose support.
