Ben Stein: Trump ‘Kind of Like This Generation’s George Wallace’ Without the Charm

Actor, author, director, economist and speechwriter for Presidents Nixon and Ford Ben Stein argued Donald Trump is “kind of like this generation’s George Wallace, except without George Wallace’s charm” on Monday’s “Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV.

Stein said that while Trump does “capture a lot of anger and frustration that the ordinary citizen feels,” Trump is “a loose cannon” who is “extremely dangerous to the party.” Stein continued that Trump is “kind of like this generation’s George Wallace, except without George Wallace’s charm.” And he “cannot see him doing anything but damage to the Republican Party. And I wish he would just take his marbles and go home.”

Stein added, “I don’t think he’s really sophisticated enough, or subtle enough to lead a great power. I think his solutions are rather crude and broad-gauged. I don’t think the way he described Hispanics is even remotely correct. I think, by and large, they’re a very hard-working asset for this country. And I don’t think the general idea of whipping up anger against any one segment of the population is a good idea. I think he’s an energetic fellow, I give him credit for that. I give him credit for his astounding amount of self-confidence. But he’s a loose cannon, who’s not going to do any good for the Republican Party at all. I think we have a real chance if we can get a Republican who’s a sensist, well-regarded guy, Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham. But I don’t — I don’t at all see Donald Trump as the guy for us.”

Stein also praised Scott Walker, who Stein believes, while not a “particularly great orator,” is “very, very capable,” “brave,” “resolute,” “fearless,” “thoughtful,” and an “excellent administrator.”

The discussion turned to Hillary Clinton, where Stein predicted that if Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren announced they would “pull the rug completely [out from] under Hillary Clinton.” And that Clinton’s scandals and lack of personability are hurting her support level.

Stein also blasted the Iran deal, arguing it “paves the way for Iran to become a nuclear power that can threaten the whole rest of the world with ballistic missiles” and would make the Munich Agreement “seem trivial by comparison.”

Stein concluded that he didn’t think President Obama “really has fully positive feelings about America” and that despite the fact that “America has given him every gift America can shower upon a human being, has given him every kind of affirmative action, has favored him, has pushed him forward, he still has racial animosity towards the United States” and dubbed Obama a “very dangerous person psychologically” to run the United States, who Stein isn’t sure “really wishes well for the United States of America, and certainly does not wish well for Israel.” Although he added Obama’s Israel message is “mixed.” And that the president “is not a friend of America” who sees America “through the prism of racist persecution, even though he has never had anything but racist favoritism in his life. I mean, he’s never been the victim of racism, he’s been the beneficiary of racial feelings.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett