US President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted he would “easily” beat former President Barack Obama if the two were to somehow run against each other.
“I got many more votes than he got,” Trump told Stephen A. Smith, adding that he holds the record for receiving the most votes in Texas and Florida.
“Are you saying you would beat Obama?” Smith asked.
“Yeah, I think I’d beat him easily, yeah,” said Trump, who just presided over his party’s historic losses in last week’s midterm elections.
Trump also slammed Obama as “highly overrated.”
“Oh my lord,” Smith replied in disbelief. “How is Barack Obama overrated?”
“I just think that’s just my opinion, I think that he’s overrated,” Trump said. “I didn’t think he was a good president.”
Polls routinely show Americans continue to hold a high opinion of Obama, and in much higher regard than they do Trump. In a CNN poll in June, for example, 57% of Americans said they held a favourable opinion of Obama, versus just 34% for Trump.
A YouGov survey earlier this year also ranked Obama well above Trump.
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Trump, widely considered the most polarising president in modern history, also called Obama “a divider.”
“A divider?” Smith asked. “And what would you classify yourself as being?”
“As a person that brings people together,” said Trump, who routinely demonises wide segments of the population.
Asked how he brings people together, the president said it was “through success.”
“Because our country is so successful and you’re gonna see the results pretty much starting now because of the trillions of dollars,” he said. “We have $22.2 trillion being invested in the United States.”
There is no evidence that Trump has brought anything close to that money into the US economy. The official White House investments website lists half that amount, and even that number doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
However, since becoming president, he has added billions to his own personal net worth amid accusations of shady trades, questionable deals, and outright corruption.
Corruption was cited as a key issue by voters in last week’s midterm election, when Trump’s candidates were wiped out around the country in a historic rebuke for a sitting president.
See more of the interview below:
Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
