President Donald Trump’s insistence that he could easily defeat former President Barack Obama in a hypothetical presidential election drew ridicule Thursday from a CNN panel, with one commentator suggesting there was only one contest Trump could win.
“It’s ludicrous,” CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons said on “Erin Burnett OutFront.”
The backlash followed Trump’s interview with Stephen A. Smith, during which the president claimed he would have little trouble defeating Obama.
“Yeah, I think I’d beat him easily,” Trump said. “I think he’s highly overrated.”
Asked why, Trump called Obama a “divider” while describing himself as someone who brings Americans together “through success.”
Simmons dismissed the boast on CNN, recalling Obama’s campaign appearances ahead of the midterms and his mockery of Trump’s decorating tastes.
“We almost had a moment during the last campaign where it really was mano a mano Trump versus Obama,” Simmons said, adding that Obama’s criticism appeared to send Trump into “a little bit of a spiral.”
Maura Gillespie, a Republican strategist, accused Trump of attempting to “rewrite history in real time.”
“The midterms themselves was a massive rebuke,” she said, adding that the president’s approval rating “is plummeting” because of people’s frustrations with him.
But Iraq War veteran and national security commentator Paul Rieckhoff delivered perhaps the sharpest jab.
“Donald Trump would beat Barack Obama in a Big Mac eating contest,” Rieckhoff quipped. “I mean, I don’t think there’s much else he’d beat him in right now. Definitely not a popularity contest.”
Rieckhoff called Obama “maybe the most effective communicator of our time” and argued that Trump’s confrontational style had made him increasingly unpopular.
“This is not a fight he’s going to win,” he added.
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