President Trump’s State of the Union address was a roaring success. He revitalized his base and won over more than a few critics.
Conservative pollster and former Fox News contributor Frank Luntz famously sparred with Trump in 2015. After watching Tuesday’s address, he realized that he owed the president an apology.
“Tonight, I owe Donald Trump an apology. Tonight, I was moved and inspired. Tonight, I have hope and faith in America again. It may go away tomorrow. But tonight, America is great again,” Luntz gushed on Twitter.
“Even in foreign policy and national security this speech (is) a perfect blend of strength and empathy. These heroic stories break our hearts, but sturdy our resolve. This is the Trump his voters wanted him to be.”
Most of America agrees with Luntz. Clinton loyalists and fringe liberals hated Trump’s speech, but almost everyone else took comfort in his words. He was tough where he needed to be, emphatic where it mattered.
Back in 2015, Luntz predicted that Trump had no shot at the presidency.
“This has been going on, he’s putting the arm on me all the time, and then he does these polls that are totally in violation of every other poll that was done,” Trump said at the time.
“I watch this guy do a really negative report on me, and the only reason he did it, in my opinion, is because I didn’t want to hire him commercially.”
Luntz gave a snippy reply and their feud was born. The pollster was so angry he decided he didn’t want to be considered a Republican anymore.
“I’m not part of that system, I’m not part of that negativity. This is not something I was involved in this year… I will leave it to others to explain and to try to get themselves out of this,” he said.
Three years later and he’s eating his words.
This speech represents the presidential performance that Trump observers have been waiting for – brilliant mix of numbers and stories, humility and aggressiveness, traditional conservatism and political populism.
Only one word qualifies: Wow. #SOTU
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) January 31, 2018
(Source: Fox News)