WATCH: Frank Luntz Reveals To Don Lemon His 8-Step Plan To ‘Make Trump Go Away’

Veteran Republican strategist and communications guru Frank Luntz gave CNN’s Don Lemon his 8-point plan to “Make Trump Go Away” by defeating him in the GOP primaries.

Luntz has devised a strategy for Republicans based on his own focus groups and other data, which he believes will help defeat former President Donald Trump, the current runaway leader in primary polls.

On Tuesday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, Luntz shared that plan with Lemon, starting with the counter-intuitive advice to “start with humility”:

LEMON: Let’s go through your playbook here starting with —

LUNTZ: Starting with humility.

LEMON: Humility.

LUNTZ: And the key here is to understand how the votes are actually cast. You can’t win 40 percent if you’re not Donald Trump — 30 percent. Maybe 25 percent is your ceiling —

LEMON: OK.

LUNTZ: — and that’s OK.

The Republican primary vote — the electorate — is divided by winner- take-all states and states where you win the congressional districts.

LEMON: Yes.

LUNTZ: So a Republican has to come in first or second to get the lion’s share of delegates. Humility says don’t expect that you’re going to come out of the gate very quickly. You have to do it slowly, methodically, and —

LEMON: And humble.

LUNTZ: — and be humble.

LEMON: OK. What do you mean by do better? What does that mean?

LUNTZ: It means that you cannot support the status quo. Republican voters want significant change, they want reform. They want to drain the swamp. They want change and you have to be the change candidate, not the status quo candidate.

LEMON: So then, here — I’m just wondering. Real people matter because I’m wondering if — should the GOP focus on these social issues here in 2024, like — or would that help them win over younger and more independent voters?

LUNTZ: Clearly, the governor of Florida believes so. But in our polling and in our focus groups that’s not the primary issue. That’s not the second issue. It’s about the economy, stupid, that we’ve heard before, and it’s about bringing about fundamental change. Real people.

LEMON: Real people.

LUNTZ: It’s not endorsements of members of Congress. It’s not even good coverage on the media. It’s small business owners. It’s ranchers, farmers, and most importantly, veterans. What do average everyday Americans think about politics. Bring them into the campaign and you’re going to be successful.

Four — and I think this is important — you have to divide how you relate to the Trump presidency and how you relate to Donald Trump. The public will not tolerate you attacking the Trump administration, 2017 to 2021. What they will tolerate is saying to Donald Trump stop being so negative, so being so cruel, and stop attacking other Republicans.

LEMON: Yes.

LUNTZ: Fifth, the average Republican voter is pretty old. I like to say the average Republican voter is deceased. They all have grandkids and they will change their vote based on what impacts their grandchildren. And the number one issue for their grandchildren — about the grandchildren is the debt ceiling.

LEMON: Really?

LUNTZ: Republicans have to get back at accountability and they have to get at the spending issue. This is what matters most to them.

LEMON: Because this affects, you said, military salaries, Social Security checks, hospitals, bondholders, and what have you on recession and financial crisis. That’s more important to them.

Watch above via CNN This Morning.

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