Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Thursday urged the president to make the 2018 midterms a national referendum on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“If it is Donald Trump versus Nancy Pelosi, the president wins that every single time, and that’s what’s going to play out this election cycle,” Lewandowski told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
“If this election is defined as a referendum on President Trump and his agenda, which is tax cuts, strong border wall, and the deregulation of our government, then the Republicans win, and I think the Republicans hold the House,” Lewandowski said.
“If this becomes a local election like we saw with Connor Lamb in Pennsylvania — where he really localized the election; he ran away from Nancy Pelosi as a Democrat; he said I’m not really interested in voting for her for the next speaker — then I think the Democrats could do fairly well,” he added.
Lewandowski’s remarks come after progressive Democratic candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated longtime Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday in New York’s 14th District primary.
Pelosi on Wednesday downplayed Ocasio-Cortez’s victory, saying it should not be viewed as a larger issue within the party.
“They are moving to the extremes,” Lewandowski said. “They are moving further left.”
— Julia Manchester
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