President Trump won his election thanks in large part to the strong support of white voters without college degrees, a group that stood with Trump’s candidacy nearly from the outset and never wavered. But no group has been more supportive of Trump, on nearly every issue and comment, than “many people.”
Who is “many people”? Well, it is a group that is a lot of people, presented by Trump as evidence that he is reflecting the will of the people without going through such cumbersome details as identifying who they are or pointing to polling that backs up his claims. For example, Trump said during a debate in September 2015 that many people — most people, even — apologized to him when they discovered that his campaign-launch speech’s claims about crime perpetrated by immigrants in the country illegally was correct. Granted, studies suggest that his claims were incorrect, but who cares what a “study” says when, in contrast, many people went so far as to apologize to Trump for thinking him incorrect?
With Trump’s 100th day in office arriving this week, we figured we’d evaluate his presidency so far through the lens of what this nebulous-but-critical constituency is saying. Here, according to Trump, is what most people or many people or, at least, a lot of people are saying about his presidency and his politics.
Many people agree that there might be millions of votes cast illegally last year. (Interview with David Muir, Jan. 25.)
People loved his speech at the CIA. (Muir.)
People loved and liked his inaugural address. (Muir.)
Many people thought that his inaugural address was optimistic. (Interview with CBN, Jan. 26.)
Many people have come out and said that Trump is correct about his claim that millions of people voted illegally last November. (Interview with Bill O’Reilly, Feb. 5.)
A lot of people say that Trump was only kidding about the wall but they are wrong. (Speech at MCCA, Feb. 8.)
A lot of people are liking Neil M. Gorsuch very much on the other side of the political aisle but they may not vote for him because of politics. (Roundtable discussion, Feb. 9.)
A lot of people consider Supreme Court picks to be one of the more important presidential duties. (Roundtable.)
A lot of people are very happy right now because of the deportations his administration has effected. (Remarks at a news conference with the prime minister of Canada, Feb. 13.)
A lot of people are happy he’s following through on campaign commitments. (News conference, Feb. 16.)
A lot of people don’t know that the Air Force One proposal involves building two airplanes. (Rally in Florida, Feb. 18.)
A lot of people think that the increase he wants to make to military spending is a lot of money. (“Fox and Friends” interview, Feb. 27.)
A lot of people understand that he said that the U.S. needed to deport criminals in the country illegally. (“Fox and Friends.”)
Many people have said that federal regulations have been catastrophic. (Comments at the White House, Feb. 27.)
Betsy DeVos has had such support from so many people. Many people were calling her and saying she will do a fantastic job. (Comments.)
A lot of people were surprised he won Michigan in last year’s election. (Roundtable discussion in Michigan, March 15.)
A lot of people thanked him for eliminating “anti-coal legislation.” (Rally in Kentucky, March 20.)
Many people and companies are into what NASA stands for. (Comments at a bill-signing, March 21.)
A lot of people don’t know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. (Speech at a National Republican Campaign Committee dinner, March 21.)
A lot of people don’t realize how good the Republican health-care bill was because they were only looking at the first phase of it. (Remarks from the Oval Office, March 24.)
A lot of people don’t know that Jeff Sessions was a U.S. attorney. (Roundtable discussion, March 28.)
A lot of people don’t know that Mar-a-Lago was built to be the Southern White House. (Roundtable discussion, March 31.)
A lot of people are saying that the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman was a P.R. person for Hillary Clinton. (Interview with the Times, April 4. “Mostly you,” Haberman replied.)
So many people are apologizing to him for having been right about Susan Rice. (Interview with Fox Business, April 11.)
A large number of people want to hear the story of how he told the president of China that he was launching missile strikes against Syria. (Fox Business.)
Many people come to see him and say they are unable to borrow from banks. (Roundtable discussion, April 11.)
Most people don’t know that he has to approve payments to insurers to cover Obamacare subsidies. (Interview with the Wall Street Journal, April 12.)
A lot of people don’t know that Italy is one of America’s largest trading partners. (Remarks welcoming the prime minister of Italy, April 20.)
A lot of people are liking the Republican health-care bill a lot because it gets better and better and better. (Prime minister remarks.)
Many people — human rights people — are talking about how Trump negotiated the release of charity worker Aya Hijazi. (Interview with the Associated Press, April 24.)
People have given Trump credit for having great chemistry with all of the world leaders, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. (AP interview.)
A lot of people have said that his joint address to Congress was the single best speech ever made in that chamber. (AP interview.)
A lot of people don’t watch CNN any more. (AP interview.)