‘Wrong issues' and 'wrong message': Top GOP pollster attacks Trump campaign as worst he's ever seen

Republican pollster Frank Luntz has slammed Donald Trump and his re-election campaign for focussing on Joe Biden’s son Hunter and not issues relevant to voters.

Calling the campaign the worst he’s ever seen, Mr Luntz said that the president’s advisers have “their heads up their asses” and should be charged with political malpractice.

The longtime GOP pollster and pundit made the remarks at a briefing for Global Counsel, a British strategic advisory company, The Hill reports.

“I’ve never seen a campaign more miscalibrated than the Trump campaign. Frankly, his staff ought to be brought up on charges of political malpractice,” Mr Luntz said.

“It is the worst campaign I’ve ever seen and I’ve been watching them since 1980. They’re on the wrong issues. They’re on the wrong message. They’ve got their heads up their assess.”

He added: “Your damn job is to get your candidate to talk about things that are relevant to the people you need to reach. And if you can’t do your damn job then get out.”

On Tuesday Trump called on Attorney General William Barr to investigate Hunter Biden before election day.

The campaign has been holding briefings and running ads alleging misdeeds by the son of the former vice president claiming that he profited off his father’s connections.

Much of the attention has been on unconfirmed reports in The New York Post surrounding Ukrainian gas company Burisma — though dozens of former intelligence officials have warned that the reports sound like Russian disinformation.

Mr Luntz said that the campaign was ignoring voters’ concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and the state of the economy.

“Hunter Biden does not help put food on the table. Hunter Biden does not help anyone get a job. Hunter Biden does not provide health care or solve Covid. And Donald Trump spends all of his time focused on that and nobody cares,” said Mr Luntz.

Having conducted a focus group of undecided voters immediately following the first debate between the two presidential candidates, Mr Luntz revealed that the participants called the president “some pretty awful names” based on his performance.

Members of the group characterised Trump as “unhinged,” “arrogant,” “forceful," “bully,” “chaotic”, and “un-American”.

Biden was described as: “better than expected,” “politician,” “compassion,” “coherent,” and a “nice guy lacking vision”.

With the replacement of the second debate with a dueling town hall format, Mr Luntz said it was down to Trump to make Thursday’s debate a game-changing moment or there is no chance of him winning the election.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the RealClear Politics polling average has Joe Biden leading Donald Trump nationally by 8.6 points — 51.1 per cent to 42.5 per cent.

In the top battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona, Bide is ahead by an average of 3.9 per cent, ranging from one per cent in Florida to 7.3 per cent in Michigan.