A leading pollster increasingly concerned about what he is seeing happen to the country sounded the alarm again during an interview Friday morning, a day after former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to four more charges filed against him by his chief political rival’s Justice Department.
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Trump appeared in a D.C. federal court Thursday afternoon as he was arraigned on charges linked to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
Pollster Frank Luntz told the Canadian Broadcast Company that he sees the political and media systems in the U.S. going to hell in a handbasket as Americans become more polarized the longer Trump is prosecuted and that he is dumbfounded over what to do about it.
“Well, here’s the problem. I stayed up all night into the morning listening to our cable news networks describe what was happening,” he began after the host asked him to assess the situation.
“And you had one completely different scenario on one network than you had on another network or the third network. It’s not that we disagree with solutions or disagree with the problems. We don’t even agree on the same facts anymore. And depending on where you get your news, it’s frankly to affirm rather than inform,” Luntz contained.
“And I don’t know how you address that. I don’t know how you bring people back together and, most importantly, with what has happened with President Trump. I don’t know how you instill accountability anymore,” he added.
Later, he predicted that things could go very badly in the United States the way things are headed and that the chaos south of the border could spread to Canada.
“It’s the same thing I feel towards AI. There’s a 10 percent likelihood that everything goes to hell. Last night, I’m listening on some of these news networks as people are swearing, as they’re talking in a way that I’ve never heard Americans talk on television before,” Luntz noted further.
“Everything that I thought was impossible is now happening. So if you ask me, how bad can it get, I don’t know. But I know it can be a lot worse. And I know that whatever happens here is coming to you all maybe five years down the road. And it’s a very sad day,” he said.
WATCH:
Meanwhile, two civil rights groups are embarking on a campaign aimed at preventing former President Donald Trump from assuming the presidency again. They allege that Trump’s involvement in the January 6 incident constitutes violations of the 14th Amendment, and they seek to use this as grounds for blocking his potential return to the presidency, The Epoch Times reports.
Starting this Sunday, the organizations “Free Speech for People” and “MI Familia Vota” have planned a series of rallies and banner displays outside the offices of the secretaries of state in Oregon, Georgia, Colorado, and California.
The protests are a part of their broader campaign aiming to bar Trump from participating in the 2024 presidential election.
The groups assert that Trump’s alleged role in the January 6 Capitol breach warrants his disqualification, and as secretaries of state hold the responsibility of certifying candidate eligibility and overseeing vote counting, they are being targeted during the demonstrations.
“Because of his role in inciting, encouraging, and supporting the January 6th insurrection, Trump is constitutionally ineligible for any future run for office,” Free Speech for People said on its website.
“Because of his role in inciting, encouraging, and supporting the January 6th insurrection, Trump is constitutionally ineligible for any future run for office,” Free Speech for People said on its website.
The Epoch Times notes further:
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was enacted in the wake of the civil war. It prohibits former officers of the United States who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from seeking public office. The provision was enacted to exclude former Confederate officers from holding federal and state office. It is not clear whether Section 3 applies to a U.S. president.
People have spoken out against the leftist campaigns against Mr. Trump.
“Have the Dems ever been as afraid of getting trounced by a [Republican] presidential candidate this badly before? Nothing like it,” Jeff Clark, a former official from the Department of Justice, said in a tweet last month.
Have the Dems ever been as afraid of getting trounced by a Repub presidential candidate this badly before?
Nothing like it. It’s 14th Amend. disqualification now.
They’re pulling out every stop & every start & every pause they can think of against Trumphttps://t.co/5DHRV2LmrW
— Jeff Clark (@JeffClarkUS) July 8, 2023