Tuesday on CNBC, investor Carl Icahn said if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sticks to the economy, then “any middle class worker” is going to vote for him “because they’re smart guys.”

Icahn said, “Let me address this, at least the way I look at it. The real issue is what I just talked about. The issue isn’t what he said about one guy—he blew up and said something about it. Okay. That happened. But I think if you stick to the economic message, there is no question that you cannot—an economy can’t exist, a capitalist economy can’t exist when the government is perceived to be at war with business. And therefore you have a bunch of workers in this country that understand that and can’t get good paying jobs. They can’t get manufacturing, good paying jobs, because you have worn out tools. All that is true. Do I defend what he said about Khan? No, I don’t. I think people make mistakes. That was a mistake. And I think he’s smart enough, and he is a very smart guy. I’ve known him for years. And I think he’s smart enough to understand that. And if he sticks to what he’s doing, I certainly do not understand why any worker, any middle class worker, you know, the Archie Bunkers of the world—that was a great show, I used to watch it. Those guys are going to vote for him because they’re smart guys. They know they’re getting screwed. And that is what I think will happen.

When asked about the Archie Bunker reference, Icahn said, “I don’t mean that in any derogatory way. Let’s clean it up. Archie Bunker is a middle class guy, somewhat educated even he doesn’t know where his next check is coming to send his son or daughter to school, doesn’t know if he’s going to keep his job. He’s bright guy and he reads the stuff today. It’s not like in Russia where—and why the hell should he vote for a system that is not giving him a good paying job? You know that’s true. I don’t think anybody’s going to argue about that.”

(h/t Washington Examiner)

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