WASHINGTON: Donald Trump, the loose-talking US billionaire real estate mogul, has finally gone too far for some fellow candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. He had gotten a pass when he called Mexican immigrants rapists, murderers and drug dealers, but was blasted when he disparaged the Senator John McCain’s Vietnam War record.
Trump’s candidacy has proven a gift to Democrats, especially front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, as they line up for their own bids for the nomination. While he has taken the top spot in early national polls among Republicans, his brash, some say outlandish, world view would seem to make him unelectable in a nationwide general election.
For the extraordinarily crowded Republican field, Trump has proven a big problem. His declarations have struck a chord with the deeply conservative Republican voter base — the group that is most energised to turn out for primary elections that determine the party’s presidential candidate. At the same time, his comments — especially about Mexicans — have further alienated the growing block of Hispanic voters Republicans need to capture the White House.
What’s more, coverage of Trump and his declarations are dominating media coverage of the Republican field, denying attention to more mainstream candidates who are trying to break on top in a field that now numbers 15.
As fellow Republicans finally stepped out to criticise Trump, he showed no sign of remorse for saying McCain was a war hero only “because he was captured”. McCain spent five years in a North Vietnam prison beginning in 1967, often undergoing torture, after his jet fighter was shot down.
Trump lashed out at his Republican presidential rivals as “failed politicians” and said he did not need “to be lectured by any of them”.
But Trump appeared to tone down his rhetoric a bit late Monday. “If there was a misunderstanding, I would totally take that back,” he said in an evening interview on Fox News Channel’s The O’Reilly Factor. On CBS Evening News, he said, “I don’t know if I made a mistake.”
Earlier on Monday, McCain said Trump doesn’t need to apologise to him for remarks about his long captivity in Vietnam, but should tell veterans and their families that he’s sorry.
“When Mr Trump says he prefers to be with people who are not captured, the great honour of my life was to be in the company of heroes,” McCain said on MSNBC. The occasionally fiery McCain had a calm demeanour, saying simply: “I am not a hero.”
After dismissing McCain’s reputation as a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam and saying “I like people who weren’t captured,” Trump declared “I will say what I want to say.” He insisted he would stay in the Republican primary field, despite rivals who say he’s now shown he doesn’t merit the presidency.
“It’s not just absurd,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio. “It’s offensive. It’s ridiculous. And I do think it is a disqualifier as commander in chief.”
Numerous other Republican candidates, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Texas Governor Rick Perry and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, were similarly critical of Trump. The Republican National Committee also issued a statement saying “there is no place in our party or our country for comments that disparage those who have served honourably.”
Veterans groups also piled on Trump on Monday. Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said that Trump’s “asinine comments” were “an insult to everyone who has ever worn the uniform — and to all Americans.”
The Des Moines Register, the largest newspaper in early-voting Iowa, published an editorial on Monday night calling on Trump to drop out of the race. “Trump has proven himself not only unfit to hold office, but unfit to stand on the same stage as his Republican opponents,” the Register said.
Despite the criticism, Trump is under no pressure to withdraw from the race because the billionaire businessman is paying for his own campaign and doesn’t need to rely on millions of dollars from wealthy donors.
“Nobody leaves a race because they get tired, or because they think they don’t have the votes. They leave the race because they run out of money,” said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster. “Donald Trump will never run out of money, and that makes him incredibly powerful.”
As the furore unfolded, Trump spoke dismissively of his rivals and the Republican establishment in an interview on Sunday with The Associated Press, recalling his years of helping to bankroll candidates.
Democrats reminded voters about the tepid Republican response to his earlier bombast about Mexicans.
Clinton called McCain a genuine war hero and said it was shameful “that it took so long for most of his fellow Republican candidates to start standing up to” Trump.
Republicans worry about the prospect that Trump could run for president as a third-party candidate if he doesn’t win the Republican nomination. Trump declined to rule that out when asked on Saturday.—AP
Published in Dawn, July 22th, 2015
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