Conrad Black predicts his friend and Republican nomination hopeful Donald Trump will "mop the floor" with rival Democrat Hillary Clinton and win the U.S. election this fall.
In an appearance on CTV's Power Play Wednesday, the former media baron said Trump will cruise past his Republican opponents and take down Clinton, whom he believes will be the eventual Democratic nominee.
"(Trump) wins. You can't stop him in the Republican Party, and he will mop the floor with (Clinton) -- she's got too much hanging," said Black, who is also a presidential biographer and has authored books about Franklin Roosevelt and Richard Nixon.
Trump cemented his frontrunner status as Republican nominee with numerous key victories on Super Tuesday. The business mogul was the leading vote getter in Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. He now has a total of 338 pledged delegates -- compared to Ted Cruz's 230 and Marco Rubio's 109 -- and requires 1,273 to win.
Black said once Trump clinches the nomination, he'll have the support of the Republic National Committee who he said will spend $1 billion on a massive advertising campaign to focus on Clinton's falsehoods, which includes, among other things, her involvement as Secretary of State during the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
"They are going to kill her," he said. "She's never run a serious election."
Black said Americans are looking for a new face to represent the country after "successive below-average presidents."
"They're accustomed to being generally successful in their government and it has been a horrifying and a completely disagreeable experience to the majority of Americans that they have had a succession of terrible blunders," he said.
During that time, Black said the country has participated in "costly wars," had the "worst economic recession since the 1930s" and made series of "foreign policy miscues."
All of which have created an appeal amongst the American populace for a president who is experienced, but doesn't have any ties to the government's past failings.
"The country knows it's been misgoverned, they're fed up, and Donald trump passes the two key tests," said Black.
"One: he's never held elected office, so he's not complicit in any of it. And two: he is a competent man, he's built and run a very competent business, he's a quality builder and a very successful man."
When asked about concerns about Trump's pledge to build a border wall between Mexico and the U.S., and his decision not to denounce an endorsement from the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, Black said the billionaire businessman is not an "extremist" and is a "moderate" compared to Cruz.
"He's been an equal opportunity employer. If he was a closeted, or even slightly overt racist, it would be very distressing to me," said Black.
"But I know him, and he's nothing of the kind. And there's not a shred of evidence he is. And this attempt to present him as sheltering a Klansman is just complete bunk -- just another defamation."
In contrast, Black said Cruz has courted the "corncobbers" and "woolhats."
"Cruz is pitching to the loopies with the M16 (assault rifles) in the rear windows of their pick-up trucks and the close-minded evangelicals," said.
Should Trump become president, Black said there would be no concerns about his ability to have a working relationship with the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"If Donald gets to that position, it will be fine. It will be no problem at all," he said.
"Donald trump is a very charming, convivial man -- they'll get on like smoke."
But many pundits aren't as bullish on Trump's ability to outmanoeuver the Clinton campaign.
David Jacobson, the former U.S. ambassador to Canada, told Power Play that it would be a "shock" if Trump won over the former New York senator.
"You would think that Donald Trump, or Ted Cruz for that matter, would have a very tough time winning a general election. However, people have been underestimating the guy from the beginning," he said.
"Anything that can happen, but I will tell you if it is (Clinton) vs. Trump, I would put my money on (Clinton)."
Jacobson went as far as to say that if Trump is nominated "maybe he will win four states" in the election.
"He will get slaughtered. Not only will he lose, but he will almost certainly lose the Senate (to) the Democrats," he said.
Jacobson said he met with a group of Republicans on Tuesday, and Trump's success has made them "ready to jump off a cliff."
"They're worried that not only will this do great damage in this election, but it may do great damage to the Republican Party for a long time to come," he said.
"So I supposed it is good news for (Clinton), but it bad news for the country. Donald Trump is doing some serious damage to the electorate, to the electoral process and to our reputation around the world."
