Trump has given at least $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. What’s Trump’s ultimate goal? Is he planning to help Hillary Clinton get in the White House the same way Perot helped her husband, Bill, become President?
By Alliance News July 23, 2015 11:55 am
WASHINGTON (Alliance News) – Donald Trump gave the strongest indication that he would consider a third-party run for the White House in an interview with The Hill, telling the Washington newspaper he would “absolutely” launch an independent bid if treated unfairly by the Republican National Committee.
Recent polls have shown Trump leading in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but the real estate mogul has also received considerable criticism for some inflammatory comments.
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus reportedly urged Trump to tone down his rhetoric about Mexican immigrants in a private phone call earlier this month.
The RNC also released a public statement criticizing Trump for suggesting Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., a former GOP presidential nominee, is only seen as a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War.
In the interview with The Hill on Wednesday, Trump argued that the RNC has not been very supportive of his presidential campaign.
“They were always supportive when I was a contributor. I was their fair-haired boy,” Trump said. “The RNC has been, I think, very foolish.”
The billionaire said a lot of people want him to run as an independent if he fails to clinch the GOP nomination but said the decision would depend on how the Republican Party treats him.
“I’ll have to see how I’m being treated by the Republicans,” Trump said. “Absolutely, if they’re not fair, that would be a factor.”
Trump told The Hill that the Republican establishment in Washington dislikes him because he’s not part of the political class.
“I’m not in the gang. I’m not in the group where the group does whatever it’s supposed to do,” he said. “I want to do what’s right for the country – not what’s good for special interest groups that contribute, not what’s good for the lobbyists and the donors.”
Trump also suggested his recent rise in the polls reflects the fact that he “speaks the truth,” arguing voters are looking for “competence” and “leadership.”
Results of a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Monday showed Trump leading in the race for the Republican nomination.
The poll found that 24% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents favor Trump, the highest level of support for a GOP candidate in Post-ABC News polls this year.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker comes in a distant second at 13%, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 12%.
However, the poll also found that Trump could hurt the GOP’s chances of winning the White House if he runs as an independent.
In a hypothetical three-way race, the poll showed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton at 46%, Bush at 30% and Trump at 20%.
The Washington Post said Trump takes more support away from Bush than Clinton in such a contest, as Clinton tops Bush by a narrower 50% to 44% in a head-to-head matchup.
The Post-ABC News survey of 1,002 adults was conducted July 16th through 19th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
