Pollster Frank Luntz argued Thursday that Democrats are significantly “worse” communicators than President Donald Trump following their conduct at his Tuesday congressional address.
During Trump’s speech, Democrats protested and rarely applauded — even when the president honored Americans, who had lost family members or faced health struggles. Luntz criticized the Democrats’ behavior on “Squawk Box,” saying voters despised it and criticizing the party for being more focused on opposing Trump than offering their own solutions.
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“The viewers really dislike[d] [it]. They saw this performance art. They saw it as a bad form of opposition,” Luntz said. “And they’ve been asking the Democrats now since the beginning of this administration, ‘What is your alternative?’ As critical as I am of Trump’s communication, the Democrats are much worse.”
“For them, there is no policy. There’s only opposition,” he continued. “Obviously, I reach out to both parties in conversation and doing my job, and I hear nothing from the Democratic Party in communicating a coherent agenda and communicating a coherent message.”
Luntz particularly criticized Democrats for holding signs up during the speech and Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green, who disrupted the address and was kicked out of the chamber as a result. Ten Democrats joined Republicans on Thursday in voting to pass a resolution to censure Green, which describes his behavior as a “breach of proper conduct” for creating “numerous disruptions” during the address.
“And in fact, what they decided to do with those paddles, what they decided to do with Congressman Greene, was absolutely abhorrent to voters,” the pollster said. “What the public is looking for right now, they believe that Trump’s agenda is correct.”
“They want illegal immigration to stop. They want accountability in Washington. They want safe streets, safe neighborhoods,” he continued. “They agree with what he’s doing, and they disagree with the Democrats in where they stand. All they’re simply asking for is, ‘Look forward, not look backward.’”
Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo on Wednesday that he thinks “the Democratic Party is on the verge of collapse” due to their hostility toward the president, attributing their Tuesday behavior to “Trump hatred.”
“When you are hating someone, you lose all perspective. You lose all feeling. You’re consumed. And I wrote a book that’s going to be out in September called Confronting Evil,” O’Reilly said. “And these people who did all these terrible things, they all had one thing in common: they hated. They were just haters across the board. That’s what you saw in the chamber last night.”
A CNN poll conducted by SSRS on Tuesday found that 80% of the speech’s viewing audience felt that Green’s interruption was “inappropriate.” Moreover, the poll found that 69% believed Trump’s address was either “very positive” or “somewhat positive.”
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