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We have just finished watching Donald Trump and the president of Mexico appear on stage together and Bill Crystal, this has inspired a thought, a movement in your mind. I don't like Donald Trump, but this was a good day for Donald Trump. One of the key things you have to do when you're running for president, especially when you're a challenger, when you haven't been, you're not incumbent for your election, you're not a vice president, you've been in a high office. Especially when you're outside, you've never held a elected office like Donald Trump is.
You have to come across a bridge where people think it is conceivable, it is acceptable, it is reasonable, that you be president in the United States. Trump has made that hard, incidentally, because he says such crazy and outrageous things that people like me don't quite think it's conceivable that he can't, it should be president of the United States. But then you look up at the TV, he's standing there, the president of Mexico is making his remarks, Trump's making his remarks. Then they take a question each, it's whatever you think of the details of the remarks and maybe it looks a little awkward.
It's the same image you've seen a million times in President Obama or President Bush with a foreign president each making their remarks, they're being translated and you think, okay, he seems to be able to pull off this president stuff, okay, so I think it's a very good day for Trump. And I think the media's been like, oh, look silly here, he doesn't know how to do that. And here he's awkward, he's trying to be tough, he's trying to be nice at the same time. I think they're totally missing the forest for the trees.
I think this could be a big well-mountain in the campaign. Maybe we're exaggerating in the short term, but it could be a big well-mountain where he, how does someone like me who's anti-Trump say, he can't be president, he's gonna totally mess up our foreign policy and he just had a perfectly acceptable and apparently cordial in business like meeting with the president of Mexico. That is interesting that we don't know about the details of that meeting because President Nito declined to comment on it and Donald Trump, of course, described it effusively as wonderful and magnificent in the best meeting ever. So we don't know.
I thought one of the particularly smart things that he did and I predict you'll see some of this in either the nightly news or in some of the print reporting, Trump had a five-point plan. And man, if you have a five-point campaign, if you have a five-point plan, you must know something about what you're doing. And the points were very reasonable. You stop the drug flow across from Mexico, but stop the arms flow from America.
He said some things about America having a problem too. And you look at that and you go, that's once again, the kind of speech that a person who is president is likely to make. And if you're one of the swing voters, with this point of personally, people who want change, they don't want a third term of Democratic Party having the White House. They don't trust Hillary Clinton, but they're very nervous and worried about Trump is he up to being president.
This is the kind of event we're followed up on in the next month where people could say, you know what, I've got my issues with Trump. I wish he hadn't said those things in the past that are so disrespectful. I wish he could just, but you know, maybe he seems like he can discipline himself, right? I'm here he is going to the country that he's, you know, attacked more than any other country on the earth, the people who he's attacked, who's immigrants he's mocked and derided.
And he managed to pull this off even for a little awkwardly. And I agree, I think, so I think for a sort of public swing voter point of view, it was a good day for Trump, how much matters we'll see if you get to work by other events that happen. And I think for the point of view of sort of political elites, media types watching, what's impressive about this, you've run campaigns, I've been involved in a couple, it was a pretty tactically flexible and capable thing for the campaign to pull off. I guess this invitation came Friday, is that what we think from the president of Mexico to both Hillary and Trump.
Let me be clear about this, this wasn't actually a full image. You know how, hey, come on over some time. I have one sometime in the next thing, it's Tuesday at noon and there you are. Well, but that's what's impressive, right?
I mean, Trump's team jumped right on this. Right, they weren't like, and they didn't say, well, we can't do this for two weeks, Mr. Trump, because we need advanced people to go, we need the social security service. Whole test.
It has to work it out and let's test it, which would be what the Hillary thing would do. And I've been there, actually the secret service was probably not happy by putting this together in 48 hours. But you know, Trump, I guess, at meetings over the weekend decided to do it. He had this immigration speech anyway.
If you go do this, then the immigration speech, one to one to two punch. They cranted into the schedule between, I guess, where California and future things. I mean, I'd take just my sort of campaign tactics, adaptability, kind of quickness point of view. I think that was impressive.
And it will help him with sort of political media, because we've all been, I think, correctly, ridiculing his campaign in so many ways. And now people say, you know what, that campaign's got us back together a little more than we thought. And it also helps to be lucky. This very day, the lead story inside the political world that political reporters don't want to talk about, Hillary has re-hit her lowest low ever for popularity.
Her approval rating is 32, I'm gonna stop my head. I think that's right. And her disapproval rating, I know, is 56 within one point of Trump's 57th. And if you think about it, I would, her numbers be so awful.
The one story is a story that the media doesn't want to talk about. They keep trying to pull away from it. This is obviously her mishandling of classified information, et cetera. She has spent a ton of money on media in swing states.
You keep pointing out in these podcasts and also on her podcast on podcastone.com. The Crystal Card podcast, you can check that out. All this money's being spent. And here she is at a tide with the lowest number she's ever had ever.
And one point ahead of Trump on the favorable unfavorable. So, no, I think that's a, that Washington Post's number this morning was startling a little startling to me. I would expect her to stay a few points ahead. That email thing is really hurting her.
And I totally disagree with people who say, you know, oh, it's so complicated, classifications and email servers. No one's following it. The one thing people do know about is email. The last I looked at every living American basically uses email.
And they kind of know that if someone came to you, came to me and said, hey, we've got some subpoena here. You need to search your emails or have someone, your kid, if you're not quite up to searching. Search your emails for Benghazi. You search your emails for Benghazi.
And you know, it comes up on the screen. Every email that mentions Benghazi. And then you send that to the authorities. And suddenly, like she was instructed to do that.
She said she did that. She said the only one she erased with the personal ones. And guess what? She tried to erase with that.
She uses a bleach, bleach, bleach bit, some emails, which include Benghazi to say nothing about a whole lot of other work related emails. I think people just are reminded of how dishonest really she is and the whole image of the Clintons for another four years and all the gamesmanship and the evading of legal obligations and the disingenuousness has sort of come flooding back, I think. Trump, meanwhile, has been, has avoided saying anything. Two outrageous, I guess, for a week and now has this quasi-presidential moment.
And we're in a five point race, not a 15 point race. And you know, five point race is, of course, she's the favorite. Of course, she'll probably hold that lead. But five point races can be confirmed.
Yes, they can. But also, it can turn is the Trump campaign, which, you know, in the past has found a way to seize defeat from the jaws of victory and Donald Trump, as we speak now immediately after his appearance in Mexico, will be giving a speech on this topic tonight. Will he be able to remain disciplined and have this more moderate approach? Will he pressure from the anti-amnasty, strong borders people that he wants, you know, that kind of got him where he is?
Will it appeal to him? We'll find out and we will be talking about it on the Weekly Standard Podcast and the pages of the Weekly Standard Bill Crystal. Thanks so much for your time. You've been listening to the Weekly Standard Podcast, please be sure to check weeklystandard.com regularly for podcast updates or better still, subscribe to the weeklystandardpodcast at iTunes.com.
You'll never miss another one. I'm your host, Michael Graham.