Riding a wave of popularity and polling high among conservatives, Donald Trump is now saying he may run as a third-party candidate next year.
On Wednesday, July 22, 2015, in a 40-min. interview with The Hill, complaining that the Republican National Committee (RNC) has not been supportive of him, Trump said the chances that he will launch a third-party White House run will “absolutely” increase if the RNC is unfair to him during the 2016 primary season.
If Trump indeed runs as a third-party candidate, he will split the Republican/conservative vote and so ensure that the Democratic Party candidate will win.
Henry Makow warns:
Trump is allegedly leading the other GOP candidates by a large margin. He catapulted into the lead by pretending to champion ordinary Americans who are fed up with illegal immigration. Calling Mexicans “rapists” is a little extreme but he needed to get attention fast….
Trump was drafted to run in 2012 but they decided he wasn’t needed. Then as now, Trump tailored his position to co-opt the opposition. He is “Christian, pro-life, anti gay marriage and so for the death penalty especially for terrorists.”
“I’m a Protestant, I’m a Presbyterian,” he told the Christian Post. “And you know I’ve had a good relationship with the church over the years. I think religion is a wonderful thing. I think my religion is a wonderful religion.”
Here are the facts on Donald Trump’s politics:
1. A 2011 report by the Center for Responsive Politics showed that over two decades of US elections, Donald Trump made contributions to campaigns of both Republican Party and Democratic Party candidates. (Source: OpenSecrets.org)
However, Trump gave much more to the Democrats in the 2006 cycle: $5,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $20,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, effectively buoying the election prospects of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, respectively. Just $1,000 of Trump’s money in the 2006 cycle went to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Beginning with the 2012 cycle, however, financial disclosures show that Trump has donated exclusively to Republican candidates and groups. (Politico)
2. Trump’s political party ID is all over the map (Wikipedia):
- Republican (before 1999; 2009-2011; 2012-present)
- Reform Party (1999-2001)
- Democratic (2001-2009)
- Independent (2011-2012)
3. Trump’s support for Hillary Clinton (Politico):
- Hillary received donations from both Trump and his son in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
- Trump donated at least $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
- In another sign of their closeness, Hillary had front-pew seating at Trump’s 2005 wedding to current wife Melania Knauss in Palm Beach, Florida.
4. Trump was pro-abortion before he became pro-life (The Federalist):
- In 1999, Trump was pro-abort. He said on NBC’s Meet the Press that while he “cringe[s] to hear people debating the subject” of partial birth abortion he “still just believes in choice.”
- For the last two decades, Trump has supported the most extreme of abortion advocates, by donating to high profile pro-choice Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, and Chuck Schumer.
- By 2010, 11 years later, when Trump considered a run for the White House for the first time, he suddenly changed his mind, saying he is and has been “pro-life.” How to explain the change? “As I’ve grown older, I’ve changed my views.” Some will give him a pass, arguing that he has matured in his views like Ronald Reagan once did. But Reagan wrote an entire book, making a reasoned case for his new belief. Trump just gave some rambling interviews.
5. Trump’s other flip-flops (The Federalist):
- Trump stumped for universal healthcare in the early 2000s; now he opposes it.
- Trump once called for an end to the War on Drugs; now he supports it.
- Trump used to favor gun control; now he claims to be a life member of the NRA. In 2000, when he was flirting a presidential run as a Reform Party candidate, Trump wrote, “I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I also support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun. “
Whether Donald Trump is a political opportunist whose party identification and positions change with the wind, the fact is that, if he runs as a third party candidate in 2016, he will split the Republican-conservative vote, as seen in the following latest polling data (Wikipedia):
- A survey conducted by The Economist/YouGov released July 9, 2015 is the first major nationwide poll to show Trump as the 2016 Republican presidential frontrunner.
- A Suffolk/USA Today poll released July 14, 2015 showed a 17% support for Trump among Republican voters, with runner-up Jeb Bush picking up 14%.
- A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken on July 16–19 showed Trump had 24% Republican support, over Scott Walker at 13%.
Do we really want a repeat of the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections when Ross Perot’s third-party candidacy helped elect and re-elect Bill Clinton?
H/t FOTM’s MomOfIV
~Éowyn
