Businessman Donald Trump, riding high in early polling on the 2016 GOP presidential field, says maybe people will eventually tire of him, but for now he’s “chugging along.”
Asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” what would keep him from being the Republican nominee, he said: “I don’t know. You know, I’m just chugging along. I mean, maybe people will get tired of me — who knows?”
“I mean, this press is crazy. I turn on the shows. … Last night on one of the shows, I won’t mention which, they were interviewing a candidate and [asked] if you could come back because they want to talk about Trump,” he said. “I actually tuned in to hear what this guy was going to say and they said, ’Do you think you could come back? We want to talk about Donald Trump.’ It was crazy.”
“And then when they interview other candidates, they only ask [them] Trump questions, so I don’t know — maybe people get burned out. I don’t know what could happen, but you know, look, I have a good background, I’ve been doing this for a long time,” Mr. Trump said. “I’ve been in politics for a long time on the other side of the table.”
“I was considered an elite in the Republican party because I was a big donor,” he said.
Mr. Trump said the Republican National Committee has been “very, very nice” over the past few days.
“They see what’s happening, they’ve reached out, they have talked to me, they have talked to my people,” he said.
In an interview with The Hill newspaper, Mr. Trump had indicated he could mount a third-party candidacy if he didn’t secure the nomination and felt he was being treated unfairly.
On Friday, he said he’s a “conservative” and that he wants to run as a Republican.
“The best way to win is to win as a Republican. I do not want to do independent at all,” he said. “If I’m treated well and with great respect and don’t win, I would not do that.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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