President Donald Trump says a head-to-head race against Barack Obama would not even be close. In a sit-down with sports commentator Stephen A. Smith released Thursday, Trump claimed he would "easily" defeat the former president if the two ever faced off.

Trump made his case with vote totals. "I got many more votes than he got," he told Smith before boasting that he owns the record for the most votes ever won in both Texas and Florida.

Smith asked him to spell it out. "Are you saying you would beat Obama?" he pressed. Trump did not hesitate. "Yeah, I think I'd beat him easily, yeah," he answered.

'Oh, my Lord'

The president then went further and labeled Obama "highly overrated." Smith could hardly believe it. "Oh, my Lord," he said. "How is Barack Obama overrated?"

Trump framed it as a personal view. "I just think— that's just my opinion, I think that he's overrated," he said. "I didn't think he was a good president."

He also branded Obama "a divider." Smith turned the question around and asked how Trump would describe himself. The president said he is someone who "brings people together" and that he does it "through success."

The numbers behind the claims

Public opinion surveys tell a different story. A CNN poll from June found 57% of Americans viewed Obama favorably while only 34% said the same about Trump. A YouGov survey released earlier this year also put Obama well ahead of his successor.

To back up his success pitch, Trump told Smith that $22.2 trillion is being invested in the United States and promised results starting now. No evidence supports that figure. The White House's own investment tracking website lists about half of it and even that lower total has not stood up to scrutiny.

Fresh off a midterm rout

The remarks come just days after Republicans suffered historic losses in last week's midterm elections. Trump-backed candidates were defeated across the country in what amounted to a sweeping rebuke of a sitting president. Voters named corruption as one of the top issues driving their choices.