Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is once again floating the possibility that he could launch an independent run for the White House if he doesn’t win the 2016 Republican nomination, saying that he doesn’t want to but would consider it if he doesn’t get treated “fairly.”
“First of all, I don’t want to do that — I’m leading in the polls by not a little bit, like by 20 and 21 points,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday on “Live with Kelly and Michael.” “I’m leading in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, Texas. I’m leading in Florida. … I’m leading every single poll and nationwide, I’m leading in every one of them.
“So obviously, I’m very happy where I am,” he said. “The people, the Republican party has been — the people have been phenomenal. The party, I’ll let you know about that. And if I don’t get treated fairly, I would certainly consider that.”
Mr. Trump then pointed to numbers from a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll released Tuesday that showed 68 percent of his supporters would continue to back him if he launched an independent run for the White House.
“I don’t want to do that,” he said. “Number one, when you’re leading by 20 and 21 points, you don’t do that.
“A lot of the people that are very critical — people like Jeb Bush, who’s down, bing,” Mr. Trump said, moving his hand downward. “You know, got nothing going. And a lot of the others that are critical — they’re doing very poorly. I mean, they’re doing very, very poorly in the [polls].”
In September, Mr. Trump signed a pledge stating that he would support the eventual GOP nominee if he doesn’t secure the nomination and forgo a third party or independent bid.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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