Pawlenty calls Biden easily beatable but Trump will set up GOP for 'likely defeat'

Aug. 10—MINNEAPOLIS — In an appearance on the WCCO Radio show on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Joe Biden should be an easy-to-beat presidential candidate but feared that the Republican Party is setting itself up for defeat by nominating Donald Trump.

"I think the Republicans unfortunately are sadly setting themselves up again for likely defeat if they don't find somebody different than Trump. And it doesn't look like they're going to," Pawlenty said as the program's guest host. Pawlenty served two terms as governor from 2003 to 2011.

Pawlenty added that "it wouldn't take much to beat Biden if we had a more compelling candidate that was compelling to swing and independent voters."

Pawlenty also predicted that nominating Trump as the GOP's presidential standard bearer "bodes poorly" for Minnesota down-ballot races. It would make it harder for Republicans to win the state House back if Trump is at the top of the ticket, he said. The DFL used its unified control in St. Paul to move the state in a progressive direction in the last session.

"If the object of the exercise is to claw, say, 3% to 10% of the vote in suburban swing districts (to flip the Minnesota House), Trump isn't the person who's going to get that done for the Republican Party. It doesn't make it impossible for the Republicans to win the House, but I think it puts a lot of weight in the trailer to try to drag up the hill," Pawlenty said.

Pawlenty's remarks were also reported on Axios Twin Cities whose reporter Torey Van Oot interviewed Pawlenty about the political scene.

Pawlenty also said DFL Rep. Dean Phillips' public flirtation would probably not be a good political move for him. It would likely anger a lot of people and undermine his political goals, he said, adding he saw no way for Phillips' to defeat Biden.

"If you run against a sitting president and you tick off a whole bunch of people in your party for doing that, ultimately basically you're saying directly or implicitly, the incumbent is not the right person for the job. I think that probably is a step back for him for what might be his future political ambitions here in Minnesota," he said.

Pawlenty voted for Trump in early voting in 2016, but before the TMZ tapes were made public in the weeks before the general election. He said he was "set off" by the language and behavior displayed by Trump by the tapes and in other instances. In a 2018 interview, Pawlenty said as president, Trump outlined policy positions, most of which he agreed with but "not all of them."

"I just don't agree with his language and behaviors," Pawlenty said in that interview.

Pawlenty is the last GOP candidate to win the governorship.

Trump so far is in a commanding lead for the GOP nomination, according to an average of national polls as reported by FiveThirtyEight. It shows Trump, who won in 2016 but was defeated in 2020, with a 52.4% favorable rating, compared with Ron DeSantis at 15.6%, Vivek Ramaswamy at 7.2%, Mike Pence at 5.2%, Nikki Haley at 4.1%, Tim Scott at 3.4% and Chis Christie at 2.1%.