Dick Morris has known Donald Trump long before becoming his political advisor. The father of the legendary American consultant was a lawyer for the Trump family. Thus, Morris dealt closely with the current candidate and former president, when no one yet suspected that he would jump from Manhattan Real Estate to the White House in DC. Not even Morris sensed it. Now, the strategist has no doubts. He assures that Trump will be president once again facing a weakened Joe Biden. But this experienced analyst does not rule out a surprise plan B by the Democrats either. Which one? Michelle Obama's nomination.
At 75, Morris is considered one of the most important consultants in the United States. He was an advisor to Trump and a key strategist in Bill Clinton's re-election in 1996. He also worked in Latin America. In Mexico he advised Vicente Fox; in Uruguay he did so with Jorge Batlle; and in Argentina he worked for Fernando de la Rúa, Mauricio Macri and José Luis Espert. In conversation with LPO, Morris explains why Latino voters prefer Trump and rejects the parallels between the Republican candidate and Argentine president Javier Milei.
Regarding a country that you know well like Argentina, how do you evaluate the presidency of libertarian Javier Milei so far?
It's still in progress, so it's premature to draw conclusions. But I think Milei is doing a very good job, applying fundamental reforms for Argentina. Particularly in reductions in the State, when cutting phantom employees, referring to all the people who get paid and do nothing. He was very effective and very good in saying that Argentina needs to "point out its value" and needs to reform its economy. I think he's doing very well with that.
But at the same time he is already facing some problems...
The problem is that he does not have enough votes in Congress to support those policies. I also think it is likely that the Peronists will do what they did to former President Fernando de la Rúa, that is, they will begin to oppose him and ruin his important reforms. The streets taken over, people with their pots to make noise and take over the city and the countryside. This is how De la Rúa was forced to leave office. The same thing could happen to Milei. There is not going to be a military coup. But there may be an uprising encouraged by the Peronists to divert Argentina from the government for which it voted.
"Trump representa el fin de la democracia, como puede pasar en la Argentina con Milei"
Could such a radical reform plan work out for Milei?
It could turn out well, but it will be very difficult to achieve. Right now, Milei is at the peak of his popularity. But when his cuts start hurting people and it takes a little time to sort out the economy, which he will, people may lose patience. And the Peronists can take advantage of that to try to overthrow the government. Remember that the Peronists took power basically after Menem, when De la Rúa was elected and they were out of power. Then they came back and we had the two Kirchners. Basically we had Peronist dictators. That may happen again now.
Do you consider that the Kirchners were dictators?
Yes. I think they couldn't do it at all. They wanted to do much worse than they did. They wanted to stop democracy much more than they could do. But yes, I think they would have corrupted it. They would have violated the spirit of democracy. They tried to stop newspapers from printing whatever they wanted. They tried to prevent the forces of democracy from being represented. And I think Kirchner was very much a dictator.
Is there any historical or current leadership we can compare Milei to, or is this a completely new leadership?
Milei is a completely new phenomenon. Just like the thing about the dog that advises him... Conan.
Do you think the comparison between Trump and Milei is not appropriate?
Not at all. Because Trump has been a great president and has shown that he can lead and change the country. Milei has a lot of work to do before any valid comparison between him and Trump. Milei tries to follow Trump's footsteps, but has a long way to go.
In what way are they similiar?
Trump really created his own party and thus won the nomination. He rejected the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. So in that sense, he would tend to be a lot like Milei.
What are the real links between Milei's and Trump's team?
I think Milei doesn't like giving interviews too much. He's a bit of a hermit and doesn't really come close. If they were to get married, it would be an arranged marriage. But Milei does not intend to get closer to Trump in any real or concrete way. I think Trump admires Milei, but he doesn't yet see how to get closer.
Today, far-right alternatives seem very interconnected on a global level, just as the left did in the pre-social media era. What do you think of this?
I think people are ahead of the media. On social networks they are creating their own alternatives. And Milei capitalized on that, exploited it and used it to get elected. It is a very positive development. I like Milei and I like what he is doing. But I simply think that it is still very early, and what he is going to undertake is very risky. You have to give him time. I worked for President De La Rúa and I am worried that the same thing could happen to Milei.
What is going to happen in the Iowa Republican Caucus?
Trump is going to win comfortably in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two primaries or caucuses. After that, I think he'll do very well. He will win the other primaries in Michigan and South Carolina, and then on Super Tuesday, when 45% of the delegates are selected. It will be the beginning of Trump's triumphant march towards the final nomination.
A dos semanas del caucus de Iowa, un Trump dominante busca no repetir el error de 2016
Does Joe Biden have no chance of being re-elected?
In the general election, after the primaries, Trump is ahead of Biden. Of course, Biden could still make a comeback, but it is surprising that Trump, despite being impeached four times, has a significant lead over Biden and appears to be leaving him behind.
How do you explain that Trump is not affected by the legal cases against him?
Trump produced a very intense feeling in a large number of Americans excluded from the political process. In the United States we have a saying that most Americans fly from New York to California without stopping in between. And for a long time we considered the states in which we did not stop as "the flyover country." That's what many people who live in that vast area of the United States feel the establishment thinks of them. Trump paid close attention to Americans who tend to be overlooked by the establishment. And that has generated tremendous support for him.
Won't even court bans, like the one determined by the Colorado Supreme Court, stop Trump?
It's not going to happen. The National Supreme Court will prevent it. But every time the left tries to discriminate against Trump, ban him or prevent him from speaking, that ends up helping him. Because people react to that and support Trump, while they feel that the government is unfairly attacking him. And they really see this as a threat to democracy.
Will Biden be the Democratic candidate, or could there be a plan B?
It is very possible that Democrats will advance with Biden in the primaries. And right before the convention, Biden moves away and they put someone else in the race.
Who could it be?
I think it might be Michelle Obama, President Obama's wife.
What about California Governor Gavin Newsom?
I don't think it can be Gavin Newsom, because to get to Gavin Newsom you would have to overlook the power of Nevada. Its president is black. And I think black people wouldn't allow it, except for another black man.
And does Michelle Obama have better electoral chances than Biden?
I think anyone has a better chance than Biden.
El plan de los demócratas para que el aborto vuelva a ser la carta ganadora entre los latinos
With two candidates who are 77 and 81 years old, do you perceive a leadership crisis due to lack of renewal, both among Democrats and Republicans?
No, I don't think that's happening. Many voters would like a younger candidate or some other candidate. But I think Trump has tremendous support in the United States. There is a real enthusiasm for him. People focus too much on their age. Although he is only slightly younger than Biden, Trump is a fighter, very healthy, in full control of his brain and does not have the dementia that Biden seems to have.
How do you imagine a second Trump presidency? Wouldn't that be too stressful for American society?
Yes, everything about Trump is stressful. It is very possible that it is so. But I think it's a good stress. He is determined to pick up where he left off in his first term and give us a good economy and plenty of inflation-free jobs. Regarding foreign policy, standing up and being aggressive in defending US allies, like Israel.
What will be the central axis of the campaign: inflation or democracy at risk?
Trump's focus will be on the southern border and controlling the flow of people coming into the United States, particularly some of the drug traffickers, kingpins and human traffickers who are arriving. Biden hopes to run as a pro-democracy candidate, but while he does, their people are trying to remove Trump from the ballot and prevent people from voting for him. And the judges in Trump's cases are threatening to impose what they call a "gag order", meaning they cannot comment on the cases. That's not very democratic.
Don't you have any doubts that Biden is behind the legal cases against Trump?
There's no doubt. Biden has made the Department of Justice his instrument of political revenge against Trump and a way to prosecute him. Then there are great fabricated pieces of evidence that were disproved. They tied up the country for two years with an investigation by the special prosecutor's office that found nothing. People were very upset when he tried to impeach Trump twice, once for making a deal with Ukraine. And it turned out that it was Biden who made the deal with Ukraine, not Trump. So that story has made it clear that Biden is the enemy of democracy, not Donald Trump. He has been president for four years. The idea that when he comes in there will be a huge attack on democracy is ridiculous because he's been there for four years and he didn't do it.
But Trump could return to power with a spirit of revenge. Is there any guarantee that he won't?
I don't think the rematch is going to be something that drives and that people are going to support. What he will do is fire most of the people in the Department of Justice, the Office of Special Prosecutor and the various agencies that have been trying to keep him out of the polls. And I don't think people see that as a revenge.
How long have you known Trump?
I have known him very well for some years. But before I saw him through my father, who was his lawyer. So I knew him very well while he grew up.
Did you ever think you would be interested in politics?
No, no, I didn't think about it. But it was quite evident that when he entered politics, he would do so with tremendous force.
"Si las cosas se dan como parecen, el presidente va a ser de nuevo Donald Trump"
You just said that the immigration crisis will be one of Trump's main focus. What importance do you give to the Latino vote in this election?
Something very interesting is happening with the Latino vote in the United States. It has swung dramatically in favor of Trump. In 2016, Trump only won 28% of the Latino vote. And in 2020 he won with 31%. Now, he is shown winning 48% of the Latino vote. Polls show him leading Biden by 48 to 41 among US Hispanics. So there has been a complete change in their attitudes.
What do you think is the reason for this turn in favor of Trump?
The key is that Democrats have focused on stopping, opening the border and allowing people to come in. They claim that Trump is racist for wanting to close it. Trump says: "I'm not racist. Immigrants want them not to enter." Trump wants a border wall with Mexico, that has been highly controversial. But the border wall looks a bit like the Great Wall of China. It's not designed to keep people away. It is designed to protect the people inside. I just want to stop drug dealers, criminals, and border crossers who mean something bad to our country. He wants to keep the barbarians away. I say this because people, many of them Latinos who are already citizens, do not want those people to enter. They want them to come out.
Is Biden wrong to consider that Latinos who live and vote in the US want a policy of more open borders?
Democrats assume that Latinos wanted as many Latinos to come as possible. And Trump said no, that's not the case. They don't want drug dealers. They fled countries held by drug traffickers and criminals. They came to the United States hoping that would not be the case. And they don't want the corruption in their countries to follow them to the United States.
In the eighties, Ronald Reagan said that Latinos are Republicans who haven't realized it yet.
Yes, I think that is true to some extent. But the main factor that is leading Latinos to consider themselves Republicans is that Democrats want to allow all types of Latinos to enter the United States. And those are exactly the people who expelled the Latinos living here from the country. I mean, why would a Latino, why would a Hispanic from Mexico or Guatemala or El Salvador or Honduras want to open the border to the people who made their countries a disaster? The result was that they fled to the United States. If America becomes hell, they will have nowhere to run.
Do you think democracy is going through a crisis in the United States and the rest of the world?
I would quote Winston Churchill, who said that democracy is the worst form of government there is, except for all the others.
Why is there so much discussion about democracy then, and so many candidates denouncing that it is at risk, including Biden and Trump?
People around the world are using their power under democracy to assert themselves and take power away from the global elites, the globalists, as they call themselves, who have always dominated society. We have a global economy in the world, but we do not have a global democracy. Democracy is limited to certain countries that are a minority of the world's population. And in those countries, people's ability to influence their government is very limited. People say they want a greater role in their government, that they want it to be more democratic. And that was an important factor in Trump's election. But it is also the factor that caused Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. It is also the factor that led the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden to change and go to conservative governments. Italy too. All over the world there is the desire - of the average people - to exert power over the elites.
Is there a risk of electoral fraud in the United States?
Yes, always. And I think it can happen this time. But Trump will still win at the end of the day. Because this time Trump is going to win by a considerable margin and, therefore, democracy will not run the risk of a rigged election.
Translator: Bibiana Ruiz.
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El trumpismo se declara enamorado de la ideologÃa de Milei pero sigue escéptico con su armado polÃtico
Sin cisnes negros a la vista, Trump se prepara para iniciar su marcha triunfal en el caucus de Iowa
