The Republican Party can’t unify itself overnight, no matter what the news media may expect. That is the message from Donald Trump’s senior adviser Paul Manafort, who told impatient GOP leaders and the press to take a breath. Unity, however, is on the way, he said.
“It’s a healing process. It’s a healing process that will happen over time, and frankly the media’s expectations that the day after the Indiana primary when everybody got out of the race and everything was going to come together in one moment — it was unrealistic,” Mr. Manafort told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace.
“Trump understands this. What’s important to him is that he unifies the voters and that he unifies the Republican Party. Remember, he ran as an outsider, he ran as somebody who was representing the people’s interests who were frustrated with the gridlock in Washington. He wasn’t a candidate of the leaders,” the adviser continued.
“To expect everything to come together the day after the primary process ended, it was a bit unrealistic. But frankly, I’m very pleased to say that it’s happening even faster than we thought. Many of the candidate who ran against him — and there were 16 — are now moving behind him, endorsing his candidacy expressing support for it. Party leadership in the Congress as well as members of Congress is coming together. The governors are coming together,” Mr. Manafort said.
“It’s a process. It will be fine. We’ve got plenty of time now. There will be no contested convention. We have plenty of time to put the party together.”
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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