A.G. GancarskiOutside of the Drudge Report poll, most observers agree Monday night’s debate was an inauspicious performance for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
In a conversation Tuesday, State Sen. Aaron Bean — a strong supporter of Trump, who even helped to open a campaign headquarters earlier this month for the candidate — talked about where the debate went wrong for the Republican standard bearer.
Bean’s critiques are notable because, unlike various media commentators who don’t have a dog in the fight, he very much would like to see Trump prevail.
However, Monday night’s debate didn’t get the job done, Bean said.
“She was let off the hook,” Bean said of Hillary Clinton.
“She’s done so many bad things,” Bean added, and he and others were expecting Trump to pounce on them.
Instead, Clinton — who Bean allowed was “well-prepared” — was “let off too easy.”
“I’m grateful there are two more debates,” Bean said.
When asked what Trump could key in on, Bean noted that the country right now is a “disaster” with 95 million people out of the workforce, and one in five homes having no working person in the house.
“She is going to be Obama’s third term,” Bean predicted if Clinton were elected.
Among Trump’s missed opportunities, said Bean: a lack of focus on the national debt and the immigration crisis.
“That’s what won him the Republican nomination,” Bean noted.
Bean said Trump needs to make an affirmative case in subsequent debates, as he expects moderators who favor the Democratic nominee to lob “softballs” to Clinton.
When Florida Politics mentioned Monday’s moderator, Lester Holt, was a registered Republican, Bean was unmoved.
“I’m looking for a Republican in the heart,” Bean said.
Trump, Bean added, needs to “paint a picture” of the differences between his Democratic opponent and himself.
