Posted on 07/23/2015 8:46:45 AM PDT by Kaslin
After a few days of vacation, I wondered whether the Donald Trump phenomenon would have burnt itself out somewhat, as it did four years ago in a summer fizzle. Instead, Trump’s polling has strengthened nearly to the same level as in the spring of 2011 among Republican primary voters. So why is Trump picking this time to threaten to leave the GOP? The Hill’s exclusive interview with the mogul this morning includes a demand for fairness from the RNC from Trump, with an explicit warning that Trump may consider a third-party run:
“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.”
Two aspects of this strike me as strange. First, it seems a tad bit whiny for a multibillionaire who publicly backed Hillary Clinton for VP seven years ago to complain that the RNC may be unfair to him. Isn’t this the same man who claims to be fearless because he’s not beholden to anyone? And what precisely would “unfairness” look like, anyway? No one’s talking about locking Trump out of the debates — at least not yet.
Trump extends the umbrella to other Republicans as well, which seems to suggest that he doesn’t want to face any tough criticism, even as he’s ripping them repeatedly from the campaign trail. That looks a bit thin-skinned, again rather surprising from a man whose selling point is his toughness and bluntness.
Second, this also looks a bit premature. Trump waited a while four years ago to start pressing the third-party run button, which ended up pressuring Republicans to come kiss the ring — most notably Mitt Romney, who took a lot of flak for it in the media due to Trump’s focus on birtherism. Trump’s ascending in the polls among Republican voters now, not descending, so why choose this moment to threaten to make their path to defeating Hillary Clinton more difficult? It’s true that some frustrated GOP voters have sympathy for a party schism, but in the past those impulses have coalesced around figures like Sarah Palin, who had a lifetime of solid conservative credentials — not someone who was backing Democrats until seven years ago, pushing Canadian-style health care reform, and demurring on action regarding late-term abortions.
Finally, one has to wonder just how seriously to take this. The threat’s not entirely an empty one, but it would take more dedication than Trump has shown thus far. His second-quarter fundraising numbers came to less than $2 million, all but $93,000 of it from his own pocket. The Republican and Democratic nominees will get on the ballots in the states because the state parties already have the infrastructure to manage that process. Ross Perot had to spend a ton of money — some his, much of it from donors — to replicate that as an independent, and so far Trump hasn’t put the time or money into the organization necessary to run a campaign within the GOP, let alone outside of the two-party system.
Trump’s most likely pulling the media’s chain and giving it a juicy narrative just for the sake of its juiciness. That’s a pretty good description of the whole Trump 2016 phenomenon, just as it was of the Trump 2012 phenomenon.
Update: Speaking of chain-pulling, here’s what Trump said about this literally the day before this interview while speaking with Dana Loesch (via Matthew Newman):
I spoke with 2016 contender Donald Trump today on my Blaze television program and asked him about sharing Lindsey Graham’s cell phone number with the public, the Planned Parenthood controversy, same sex marriage, what he would do to fix the VA, and whether he intends to run third party — which he flatly denied. Said Trump:
“I will only ever run as a Republican.”
Er … yeah.
It’s a false headline LOL!
He just says he will consider it.
I have no problem with that. Ain't gonna vote GOPe again. I've done that too much.
So maybe he got wind of this .....
GOP ELITES PLOT TO BAR FRONTRUNNER TRUMP FROM DEBATE
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3315651/posts
No just stating a fact. The question set the answer up. Manipulating rhetorical journalism by media
If I were Trump (I am just as fearless but lacking $10 Billion) and if I was attacked UNPROVOKED from the RINO’s such as Rick Laraza Perry, Marco the Cuban Rubio, Linda Graham, senile Pataki, bad pilot McCain, El Chapo Priebus (El Chapo means shorty) and the rest of RINO crowd, why would I want to stay in the party of mealy mouthed losers?
Ross Perot Jr?
I just knew he was going to “Perot” us!
Trump is smart to do it, if the GOPe is stupid enough to try to block him from debates and ballots, Trump should bolt. It’s up to the GOPe.
Interesting; the only word in quotes from the title is “fair.”
I’m sure the anti-Trump FReepers will be expressing their concern and outright disgust with Trump in 3...2...1...
Here we go Ross Perot 2.0.
Didn’t see this coming.... big surprise .
The MSM would be pimping this big time.
I think if Cruz is the nominee then
Trump will support him.
Perot never was going to run as a Republican, Trump wants to run as a Republican, but if the Republicans push him out, what choice does he have?
Please provide us the direct quote where he said he was going to run third party before you completely wet yourself??
you did notice the only word in quotes from the title was “fair”...right?
Hilarious watching the naysayers shoot at Trump over this...before actually understanding the background (facts).
Shoot first, aim later! (To quote 0bama :)
Perot 2.0
Except 4 times richer than Perot, and 2 feet taller.
Sad but true ... over and over ...
The GOP divides or splits ... The Democrats stand together and hold ranks. Thus we lose. and in recent History it appears we desire to lose.
we do not want the heat of criticism when we are leading.
The MEDIA is POWERFUL INDEED!
The anti-Trump crowd are all RINO lovers. No surprise here.
This is exactly what Trump complains to the MSM (most recently to Anderson Cooper) about....taking his words completely out of context. He explained that this is why NO ONE trusts the media. They selectively edit.
The RINO’s are in full edit mode, with Trump, right now.
He knows that it would put Madame Benghazi in the oval office and that is his scare 'em negotiating tactic. The Donald knows how to do it. He basically told them, "I don't have to be president. I'm rich and comfortable but if you don't want Hillary to be your boss and to lose the entire Senate and House, don't mess with me."
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