Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Bloomberg Politics Mark Halperin weighed in on polling in the battleground states of New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Nevada and Ohio all showing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump making gains on his opponent Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Halperin went through those states, noting they are still difficult for Trump to win, but added that an October surprise could push Trump over the top to the White House.
“There’s seven or eight states that are going to determine the outcome here,” Halperin said. “There are outliers like Wisconsin, Virginia maybe come back into play. But if they do, Trump’s going to win easily. Clinton still has the advantage, but if you slot Trump Ohio, slot him North Carolina, slot him Nevada, then Florida becomes critical. I’ve been here for a couple of days now. As always, as Chuck [Todd] knows, it’s a toss-up. Both sides are pretty confident in winning it. But if you give him Florida, he still has a way to go. He still has to find a way. Add in Iowa. He’s still got to win New Hampshire or Pennsylvania, maybe one elector in Maine.”
“So Trump still has to win a lot of states that Clinton can afford to lose,” Halperin continued. “But if you give him that first basket of states as we’ve said before where he’s currently ahead then we’re talking about for people who are worried about a Trump presidency the prospect of an October surprise giving Trump the win.”
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