Eirik Løkke has done it again. In a new article in Dagsavisen, he has once again managed to spout the undisguised hatred of Trump that he so clearly harbours.
In article, the ever-so-kind Løkke discusses how Trump is engaging in self-sabotage ahead of the upcoming election. He points to a poll showing the incumbent president’s low approval ratings, and draws his conclusions apparently based more on his own feelings towards Donald Trump than on objective facts.
This is far from anything new. Since Donald Trump came to power in 2016, Mr Løkke has displayed an unparalleled level of contempt and condescension towards the American president.
But let’s take a look at what Løkke and Dagsavisen actually have to offer.
Firstly, the ‘move’. Trump asked voters to pretend that he is the one on the ballot paper. Dagsavisen writes that this happened recently. It was on 21 August, at a campaign rally in South Carolina. Eight weeks ago.
Løkke says this won’t help, because Trump is less popular than before. But the aim is to get Trump’s own voters to the polls, not to win new ones. Trump himself said that they turn out for him, but not for other Republicans.
Now, on to the issue of unpopularity. Trump is polling low, no one disputes that. But Harry Truman was down to 22 per cent in 1952. Nixon, Carter and both Bushes have also been lower.
Now for the iron law. Løkke himself says that the president’s party almost always loses in mid-term elections. That’s true. It has happened in 18 out of 20 mid-term elections since 1946. Even Eisenhower and Kennedy lost, with a 61 per cent approval rating in the Gallup poll.
So Løkke cannot claim both that the defeat is a law of nature and that it is Trump’s fault.
But perhaps the worst thing is the use of sources here. Løkke, Dean Baker, Allan Lichtman, Harald Magnus Andreassen and Nate Silver; all people with a burning hatred of Donald Trump.
Lichtman, incidentally, is the man who said that Harris would win in 2024. He was wrong, and admitted it himself. Dagsavisen makes no mention of this.
No one is saying that the Republicans will be celebrating on 3 November. But a newspaper that claims to give us the final word in advance shouldn’t be quoting experts who got it wrong last time.
Calling on Lichtman to predict the election result turns out to be just as reliable as asking Støre whether he’s had contact with Hamas.
Spare us all from these so-called experts, who see nothing but their own agenda.
