Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is "yesterday's person" and Republican rival Donald Trump's message is resonating with voters in a way the former secretary of state is not, Rep. Pete King said Monday.
"He's [Trump] broken all the rules in politics and gotten to number one, and I'm not surprised. I may have been surprised a year ago, but as he's gone along, he's really resonated with the American people," the New York Republican told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program.
"He's saying things they want to hear and he's saying things he believes, and he's really willing to shake up the system and Hillary Clinton is yesterday's person."
Clinton's political career has led to American voters making up their minds about her already, said King, who is a member of the House Intelligence and Homeland Security committees.
"The fact is that after 25 years, the American people have formed an opinion about Hillary Clinton. Nothing she can say tonight is going to make them trust her any more than they have up till now. The distrust is there. She can't turn that around in one night," he added.
Trump, on the other hand, can win voters with his debate performance, he continued, and the "questions people have about Donald Trump — is he ready for the national stage? Is he ready for the international stage? Can he provide leadership for the country? — that he can show tonight on the stage.
"He can definitely move his numbers. There's no way that she can move hers. She has to hope that Donald Trump does poorly. If he does well, I don't see any hope for her tonight."
When discussing issues of honesty, King says Clinton "is the last person to be talking about trust, saying she was under fire in Bosnia, all the different stories she told about her emails, the way she's pandered to Black Lives Matter and turned her back on the cops of this country. The American people have seen that."
"Fox & Friends" host Steve Doocy said that if Trump does well at the debate, viewers would reject the liberal media's attempts to portray him as lacking temperament and look at Trump and say, "That seemed OK to me."
"Donald Trump knows how to make points and he does it in a way that the American people can understand," King said. "He will conduct himself very appropriately tonight. I think he is going to do well. I have no doubt at all it's going to be a big win for Trump."
Co-host Brian Kilmeade said that King coming around to support Trump after being critical of him is "good for the Republican Party."
In August, King called Trump's "Second Amendment people" remark "dumb," but said he continued to support him.
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