Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry turned up the volume of his attacks on Donald Trump’s inflammatory statements today during a speech at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.:
“He offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued.
“Let no one be mistaken: Donald Trump’s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded.”
“Donald Trump, the reality television star, is a great generator of ratings. But Donald Trump the candidate is a sower of division, wrongly demonizing Mexican-Americans for political sport.”
“He has piqued the interest of some Republican voters who have legitimate concerns about a porous border and broken immigration system. But instead of offering those voters leadership or solutions, he has offered fear and sound bites. This cannot stand.”
In an interview with The Hill, Donald Trump made clear he would seriously consider a third party run at the presidency should he not secure the GOP nomination.
“The RNC has not been supportive. They were always supportive when I was a contributor. I was their fair-haired boy,” the business mogul told The Hill in a 40-minute interview from his Manhattan office at Trump Tower on Wednesday. “The RNC has been, I think, very foolish.”
Pressed on whether he would run as a third-party candidate if he fails to clinch the GOP nomination, Trump said that “so many people want me to, if I don’t win.” “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.”
Recent polls involving Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush and Trump indicate Hillary winning with 46%, Bush 30% and Trump 20%.
Speaking at a campaign event in South Carolina today, Donald Trump lashed out at few GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Saying that Graham “doesn’t seem as bright as Rick Perry,” Trump went on to read to the crowd what appeared to be Graham’s personal cell phone number.
Graham recently blasted The Donald for saying John McCain was not a war hero.
Graham’s campaign camp responded saying, “Trump continues to show hourly that he is ill-prepared to be commander in chief” and that the “two people most excited about Donald Trump’s candidacy are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.”
UPDATE – Graham posted this to his Twitter account this afternoon:
A new Washington Post-ABC News Poll shows businessman/reality show celeb Donald Trump was experiencing a huge surge among GOP hopefuls for the 2016 presidential nod until his incendiary comments about Sen. John McCain’s military service.
Support for Trump fell sharply on the one night that voters were surveyed following those comments. Telephone interviewing for the poll began Thursday, and most calls were completed before the news about the remarks was widely reported.
Although the sample size for the final day was small, the decline was statistically significant.
Even with the drop in support on the final night of the survey, Trump was the favorite of 24 percent of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. That is the highest percentage and biggest lead recorded by any GOP candidate this year in Post-ABC News polls and marks a sixfold increase in his support since late May, shortly before he formally joined the race.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who announced his candidacy a week ago, is in second place, at 13 percent, followed by former Florida governor Jeb Bush, at 12 percent. Walker’s support is strongest among those who describe themselves as “very conservative.”
Only 29% of those surveyed felt Trump represents the core values of the Republican party; 56% did not feel he represents the GOP.
On the Democratic side, the survey shows former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a huge lead over her fellow Dems. Hillary clocked in at 68% support, with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont getting 16% at the number two spot.
The other three announced candidates drew single digit support with former senator Jim Webb at 5%, former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley at 2 % and former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chaffee at 1%.
Other results:
• If the election were held today between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, Hillary would garner 51% of the vote versus Bush’s 41%.
• If Trump were to run as a 3rd party candidate in a race with Hillary and Jeb, Hillary would receive 47%, Bush 29% and Trump 19%. This shows, as surmised by many, that Trump would prove the spoiler for the GOP.
Donald Trump finds himself the target of Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post after mocking Sen John McCain’s military service saying, “He’s no war hero.”
McCain volunteered to serve in the U.S. Military, served with honor, was captured and tortured for years in Vietnam.
Trump avoided service via student and medical deferments. Yesterday, Trump said his medical deferment was due to a bone spur in his foot. He couldn’t recall which foot had the bone spur.
The other GOP hopefuls finally found something they could criticize Trump on, taking to social media to denounce Trump’s comments:
Appearing on ABC’s This Week today, host Martha Raddatz asked Trump if thought he owed John McCain an apology, he replied:
“No, not at all. I will say what I want to say, and maybe that’s why I’m leading in the polls because people are tired of hearing politicians and pollsters telling the politicians exactly what to say.”
Donald Trump, speaking in Iowa today, caught more flack from his own party as he criticized Sen. John McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran.
“He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. He then added, “He’s a war hero because he was captured.” Then, he added, “I like people that weren’t captured.”
The other GOP hopefuls finally found a reason to weigh in on Trump’s outrageous statements with this one.
• Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry: Trump is “unfit to be commander-in-chief.”
• Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal: “After Donald Trump spends six years in a POW camp, he can weigh in on John McCain’s service.”
• Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: “Enough with the slanderous attacks. @SenJohnMcCain and all our veterans — particularly POWs have earned our respect and admiration.”
• Sen. Lindsey Graham: “If there was ever any doubt that Donald Trump should not be our Commander in Chief, this stupid statement should end all doubt.”
• Mitt Romney, 2012 GOP presidential nominee lowered the boom like this:
Trump later tried to reframe on his remarks saying “If a person is captured, they’re a hero as far as I’m concerned. I don’t like the job John McCain is doing in the Senate because he is not taking care of our veterans.”
Trump did not serve in the military during the Vietnam war via student deferment and then medical deferment. He has also said, “I was not a big fan of the Vietnam war.”
