“Full-wokeness” from the eventual Democrat presidential nominee will unify “every wing” of President Donald Trump’s coalition, estimated Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen in a Monday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.
Many Americans are frightened by the left-wing vision promoted by Democrats, said Olsen.
“I think it’s clear that a lot of [Democrat] policies — and particularly the stridency with which they are promoted — scare a lot of people, even the people who don’t like President Trump,” assessed Olsen.
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Olsen continued, “[Full-wokeness] would mobilize every Trump supporter to make sure they get out and vote, because the combination of economic policies and the cultural stridency unites every wing of the Trump coalition.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) record of supporting “full-woke” positions will become a political liability in a presidential election, determined Olsen.
“I have a hard time seeing how Warren can avoid that,” speculated Olsen. “She might want to campaign on the economy, but on the other hand, she’s already gone full-woke. She’s already called for reparations. She’s already said that the border should be decriminalized, [and] that there should be no such thing as illegal immigration. She’s already embraced radical positions on abortion.”
Olsen added, “It’s very hard to see how [Elizabeth Warren] avoids talking about that, because you know that the president and Republicans will remind her over and over and over again. I think she’s already stepped into that, so to speak, and it’s going to be hard for her to extricate herself.”
Trump’s greatest political threat is from a Democrat nominee who escapes “full-wokeness,” said Olsen.
“The most formidable opponent [for Donald Trump] is anyone who doesn’t scare the middle,” Olsen stated. “Right now, [Joe Biden] is avoiding full-wokeness. He’s talking about things in a way where he goes part of the way, but he doesn’t go all the way there.”
Joe Biden may move further left over the course of the Democrats’ presidential nomination process, noted Olsen.
“It’s not clear that the Biden we’re seeing now is the Biden we’re going to see in February,” Olsen said. “Will he move left — and sharply left — to get himself the nomination? I don’t know. And I think that if Biden does, then that — plus his notable penchant for gaffes and his obvious inability to maintain a steady debate performance across an entire two hours — will eventually be questions that voters will consider.”
Mansour highlighted a recent focus group of female swing voters examining Warren’s political appeal, inviting Olsen’s analysis on the Massachusetts senator’s likability.
Warren’s “demeanor,” arraigned Olsen, is unappealing to a broad swathe of the electorate.
“I’ve been watching the Democratic debates, and the thing that strikes me — as a former graduate of a well-ranked law school — is how much she reminds me of what she actually is, which is a law professor,” Olsen expressed.
Olsen continued, “The same demeanor of ‘the professor’s always right,’ staring straight out as if you were looking at a class with 200 students in it, and conducting the sort of pointed discussion that really doesn’t admit of discussion.”
Olsen went on, “Unfortunately, the election is not a classroom where students have to agree with you or be quiet. … In an election, people decide whether or not they like the person at the front of the room, and it doesn’t surprise me that a lot of people who don’t already agree with her positions — not just the populist positions, but the whole demeanor of ‘everything is awful and needs to be thrown upside down’ — [don’t] find her terribly attractive, particularly people who don’t have college degrees.”
Breitbart News Tonight airs Monday through Friday on SiriusXM’s Patriot channel 125 from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern (6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific).
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.