President Trump told The Washington Times in an interview Thursday that he believes Joseph R. Biden is a weaker candidate than Hillary Clinton in 2016 but Democrats are more “desperate” to beat him, and he’s counting on a strong economic recovery and a renewed push for conservatives on the Supreme Court to win reelection in November.
Asked how he assesses the race against Mr. Biden compared with Mrs. Clinton in 2016, the president said of his Democratic rival, “He’s weaker, but the machine is stronger, because they’re desperate.”
Pointing to increased hiring and retail sales in May as states reopened from the coronavirus shutdowns, the president said the economy will be a “better platform” for him to win in November.
“We have four months until the election,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office interview. “We go [high and higher] each month. The third quarter is going to have the highest GDP in the history of mankind. And you see it is building. You don’t have to be up … where we were. The Democrats don’t want to open. They are fighting like hell.”
Mr. Trump said his chief concern about the election is the push to allow more voting by mail.
“Mail-in voting is the only way I’m going to lose,” he said. “Because they [Democrats] cheat and rob and steal. They don’t send [ballots] to certain areas, mostly Republican areas. There’s so much illegal voting.”
In the interview, the president also said:
— He’s preparing to issue a policy statement on protecting federal monuments such as the Jefferson Memorial from vandalizing protesters, who are “trying to take away your history, your culture.”
— His renewed commitment to appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court, announced Thursday, is needed due to recent decisions going against the administration. “It’s almost as though we have a minority” on the Court, he said.
— He doesn’t regret appointing Justice Neil M. Gorsuch to the high court in 2017, in the wake of the justice ruling against the administration this week on a landmark decision for LGBT rights. “I’m proud of them both,” Mr. Trump said, referring to his appointees, Justices Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh.
— Charles Hurt and Christopher Dolan contributed to this report.
