Robert Costa from The Washington Post joined Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM with host Stephen K. Bannon Friday morning to discuss the state of the GOP primary in light of GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s new hire, Paul Manafort.
“You’re seeing a highly competitive primary campaign unfold and it’s beginning to turn a corner and Trump is adjusting, enlisting new operatives and advisors to try to handle a situation – a contest – that has moved from being about promotion and about communication in the media to about delegate accumulation,” Costa told Bannon. “I think that’s Trump’s recognition by bringing on someone like Paul Manafort to help manage the delegate operation.”
“He needs to get ready for the convention and he seems to recognize it at the moment,” Costa added about Trump.
You see Trump keeping Corey Lewandowski, his long time campaign manager, at his side, traveling along with him. But at this point, you have to win over these party people at state conventions. You have to build relationships with them privately so if it ever comes to a second ballot on the convention floor, you have the political capital to move forward and that’s the way the campaign has gone from being really big to really almost a small campaign between two people inch by inch.
Costa added that Sen. Ted Cruz’s political networked base and organization gives him a leg up at this point in the race.
“Cruz has the ability to combine the support of evangelicals, who are highly networked around the country, with Tea Party activists and conservative movement people who are also highly networked and engaged,” Costa explained. “He has that kind of base that knows what they’re doing politically that has been involved in politics for a long time.”
Contrasting Cruz with Trump, Costa said, “He’s drawing out his engaged voters. He has a populist base, but not so many politically connected people and I think that’s the difference between Trump and Cruz. Cruz’s advantage at this point is the organization.”
Costa added that Trump has a “better stretch forward” with the New York primary on April 19th and other northeastern state primaries coming up “where he can be expected to do well.”
Breitbart News Daily airs every weekday from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125.
Listen to the full interview below:
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