Trump: 'I identify with some things as a Democrat'

Donald Trump, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, said Friday he sometimes identifies more as a Democrat when pressed to explain previous statements that the economy generally does better under Democrats than Republicans.

"I identify with some things as a Democrat," Trump said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" when pressed about the comments from 2004, adding that "generally speaking" he was "never a Bush fan."

"When the economy crashed so horribly under George Bush because of mistakes they made having to do with banking and lots of other things, I don't think the Democrats would have done that," Trump said.

"Now, I see it both ways, but I hated what I was watching in the last two years of George Bush, because it was a bubble that was waiting to explode," he added. "What they were doing was a death wish, and I saw that."

"I have seen things done by Republicans that are not good and are not smart, and I would not do that," he said.

The celebrity real estate developer skyrocketed to the top of many polls following the launch of his GOP White House bid in mid-June, amid weeks of criticism and media attention to his controversial comments on Mexican immigrants.

Trump made waves this week after he threatened during an interview with The Hill to run as a third-party candidate. He played down that possibility Thursday, saying, "I want to run as a Republican. I think I'll get the nomination."

"Over the years as a businessman, I've always helped everybody," Trump said Friday on MSNBC, further explaining his past support for both Democrats and Republicans.

"I'm a conservative, I want to run as a Republican, I'm leading every poll," he said. "I do not want to do independent at all. Now, if I'm treated poorly, that's one thing. If I'm treated well and with great respect and don't win, I would not do that."

Trump had suggested to The Hill on Wednesday that the Republican National Committee "has not been very supportive." He said Friday that the RNC has been "very, very nice over the last few days.”

The only hope is to get rid of the republican party completely.

Which would solve what exactly? Some new party becomes the 2nd leg of our 2 party system and right of center voters gravitate to it in the same proportions they do the current Republican party. Your new party would still be dominated by more nominal conservatives than actual conservatives - along with anyone who simply liked Democrats less (which doesn't all mean they would even be conservative).

I mean, have you even thought this through? Are you going to try to apply a purity test to this new party?

I might make you feel good, but what would you have achieved. You'd still have all the same RINO's, they'd just be xINO's (the x being whatever the new party's name was). The center of gravity would still be the same. The Republicans lost in 92' to a spoiler 3rd party candidate and it didn't change anything in any positive way. What it did was to put Clinton in power which was particularly devastating because politically, conservatism was ascending in the 90's and with Clinton a Democrat President for 8 years he was able to stymie what could have been a far more conservative agenda. Thanks Perot voters for that!

Democrats had control of Congress but not control of DOJ and SEC. I think that was what Trump was expressing. Wish he would have mentioned the left had created the problem along with republicans and that Bush went along with it. It was republican Phil Gramm that pushed the repeal of Glass-Steagall and contributed to blowing up the safeguards to human greed in the securities and banking industry. And of course democrats do what they always do, they lie, cheat and steal to get the loot. The two parties have merged in that regard.

Does Trump think democrats would have dispatched the DOJ/SEC to prosecute all those criminal bankers if they had had the White House? I don’t think so.

We have to remember that there’s a Uniparty there inside the Beltway. An R label or a D label is meaningless when the goal is to loot and control the money.

While I have been stepping in to defend Trump's actions, repeatedly, in recent days; I will again preface what I say here with the fact that I am personally leaning to Ted Cruz, but feel that it is very much too early to make a firm commitment--about five or six months to early in my judgment. And as repeatedly shown over the past four days, I want to encourage Donald Trump's recent efforts.

Now, of course, the immediate precipitant of the 2008 crash was the trading by big banks in bundled mortgages, that should never have been even considered, much less financed. Granted further, that the many year push to have banks finance such mortgages, arose in vote buying programs, largely pushed by Democrats on the far Left.

That said, it is also clear that the Bush II Administration went along with proposals to allow the grossest over-leveraging of bank assets; that Hank Paulson was himself an advocate of that ridiculous over-leveraging of banks that we were later told were too big to be allowed to fail.

Trump's statement, here, is an obvious effort to play on his celebrity appeal to Democrats that are unhappy--many very unhappy with the efforts to force a bad tempered female on their Party. Trump is still an evolving act. I believe that his heart is in the right direction, and that he could prove a major asset to our cause. And the fact that he is smart enough to explore approaches to win over some unhappy Democrats, by not coming across as someone who thinks that the Republicans under George W. Bush could do no wrong, is encouraging.

Reagan won decisively because he knew how to appeal to lifelong Democrats. The Reagan Democrats more than replaced the Rockefeller Republicans who abandoned Reagan as they had abandoned Goldwater.

If the other GOPee presidential nomination candidates were honest, they would admit the same thing. Except for a couple, there’s not a dimes worth of difference between a GOPee politician and a Rat.

At least Trump is honest enough to admit where he differs from straight Republican principles - if there are such things anymore.

“...he is the ONLY Republican who so far can get away with telling the media and the Left off on any issue and not only getting away with it but prospering.

I keep saying, if he and I agree on 3/10 issues-—but the only three he focuses on are mine-—I could care less what he thinks about the other seven.”

There is no perfect candidate. I thank you for your post; it makes a lot of sense.

“Okay. 3 out of 10? Damned low bar. And BTW, your “purity” comment is beneath contempt. 3/10 is not only impure, it’s PERVERTED and POISONED and POLLUTED.”

Aren’t you the guy that a few posts back was whining about those who speak against Trump are somehow castigated?

Hate to tell you, but your hyperpartisan attitude isn’t doing Cruz any favors.

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