No doubt this is pandering to his base, all politicians are, some are just more polished than others, though in the case of trump his non-polishedness is his biggest asset.
However he does have a point here imo I think it was friedman who once noted that you don't need numbers to see with society is successful and which isn't it, people vote with their feet, all you need to do is follow people's movement, are people going in or out of california vs Texas?