CNN's Jeffrey Toobin doesn't buy that Trump is on the verge of losing GOP support
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Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci believes President Trump may be in danger of losing his party's support, but CNN's Jeffrey Toobin isn't buying it.
Scaramucci blasted Trump in a CNN interview on Monday morning, suggesting that Republicans may need to swap the president out with a different candidate in 2020 and speculating that others will begin to support this idea should Trump keep up his recent rhetoric.
But in a discussion of the segment on the network shortly after, Toobin recommended viewers not to take this too seriously.
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"We always talk about turning points in Donald Trump's popularity ... and the polls never change," Toobin said, Mediaite reports.
Toobin pointed out that Trump's popularity overall has not changed much even after events that pundits thought at the time might damage him, such as his 2017 Charlottesville response. "He's not very popular, but it's not that his popularity goes down," Toobin added.
Scaramucci in the interview claimed that some current White House officials and other Republicans have been showing support for him amid his public spat with Trump, speculating that this past week will be a "turning point" and that "at some point, these people will have the courage to speak up on their own." Were this to happen, this is when Toobin would start taking this "turning point" idea more seriously, he said.
"Let's see a Republican elected official who has to face the voters and potentially a Republican primary — when someone like that comes out against Donald Trump, then that will be something significant," Toobin said. "Anthony Scaramucci has no electoral votes."
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Toobin also objected to the suggestion from Scaramucci that Trump's behavior has changed from the time when the former White House communications director supported him. "The idea that Donald Trump is somehow new, or his behavior is somehow new, is not realistic," he said. Scaramucci tweeted on Monday that he previously "tried to see the best" in Trump.
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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