Tag: Donald Trump

GOP Should Use Trump

Buck Banks

I keep reading that Donald Trump is wrecking the Republican Party. I keep hearing that he’s a threat to the fortunes of every other Republican presidential candidate, because he sullies the brand and puts them in an impossible position. … What bunk … The brand was plenty sullied before he lent his huff and his hair to the task. And by giving his Republican rivals a perfect foil, he also gives them a perfect chance to rehabilitate and redeem the party. … As it stands now, he’s using them. If they had any guts, they could use him.

— Frank Bruni, in the New York Times.

Trump Loves Mexicans, Says He’ll Capture Latino Vote

Buck Banks

I have a great relationship with the Mexican people. I have many people working for me – look at the job in Washington – I have many legal immigrants working with me. And many of them come from Mexico. They love me, I love them. And I’ll tell you something, if I get the nomination, I’ll win the Latino vote.

— Donald Trump, in an interview with NBC News.

One GOP Donor Seeks to Block Trump from Debates

Buck Banks

Someone in the party ought to start some sort of petition saying, ‘If Trump’s going to be on the stage, I’m not going to be on there with him.’ I’m toying with the idea of it.

— Republican donor John Jordan, who, along with other donors, is worried about “Republican-on-Republican violence,” the AP reports.

Two Reasons the GOP Can’t Dismiss Donald Trump

Buck Banks

Mr. Trump is important for two reasons: first for the damage he can do to the Republican Party, and second for the useful lesson he can teach that same party. The potential damage comes largely in the harm he can do—indeed, already may have done—to Republicans’ crucial mission of building better bridges to Hispanics. The lesson comes by way of illustrating the depths of populist anger running through sectors of the GOP right now.

— Gerald Seib, in the Wall Street Journal.

Why Are Conservatives Defending Trump?

Buck Banks

It is not politically significant that Donald Trump would claim to be running for president, that he would say something flamboyantly ignorant, or that he would ‘surge’ to ‘second place’ in polls by using his name recognition to get into double digits in a splintered field. What is significant and genuinely disturbing, not to mention poisonous to the Republican Party’s electoral interests, is the fact that conservative thought leaders feel compelled to defend Trump’s nativist ramblings. And not just bottom-feeding outlets like the Daily Caller and Breitbart, either. National Review editor Rich Lowry writes in Politico that Trump ‘has a point.’

— Jonathan Chait, in New York Magazine.

Walker Leads in Iowa

Buck Banks

18%

Scott Walker’s lead over the GOP presidential pack in Iowa, followed by Donald Trump at 10%, Ben Carson at 10%, Rand Paul at 9%, Ted Cruz at 9%, Jeb Bush at 8%, Marco Rubio at 7% and Mike Huckabee at 5%, a new Quinnipiac poll in Iowa finds. Said pollster Peter Brown: “Those who thought the Republican race in the Iowa caucuses might begin to clarify itself better think again. As even more candidates toss their hats into the ring, the race has gotten even more muddled.”