New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that there was “a lack of courage” in other candidates saying GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is “a scam artist and a con artist and a liar and reckless and would hurt the country, but I would support him” and that “this is bigger than just one nomination. This is about the future of the Republican Party and really the future of the country” on Friday’s “PBS NewsHour.”
Brooks said, “I think ultimately, the debate helped him, because the candidates said they would support him in the end. One of the things we’ve noticed this whole campaign is, Donald Trump just has more courage. Whatever you might think of him, and I don’t think much of him, but, he has more courage than his opponents. And for his opponents to say he’s a scam artist and a con artist and a liar and reckless and would hurt the country, but I would support him, it just doesn’t make sense. And it was a lack of courage on their part to go there.”
He continued, “And Mitt Romney today said he would not support him. And that has to be the case. Normally, you support your party’s nominee, but with somebody like Trump, if you say all the things you say about him, you’ve got to say, ‘No, I will not support him. I’ll go third party or I won’t vote in the presidential election.'”
Later, Brooks added, “I would say this is bigger than just one nomination. This is about the future of the Republican Party, and really the future of the country. For almost a century-and-a-half, the Republican Party has stood for a certain free market version of America, an America that’s about openness, that’s about markets, that’s about opportunity, and a definition of what this country is. Donald Trump offers a very contrasting image. It’s an image of closedness. It’s an image of building walls, of closing barriers, of authoritarian style of leadership. And so, the Republican Party’s future is at stake. And I think preserving that future in some coherent form is the number one task for the party. Ben Sasse, a senator, (R-NE) has said he’s going to — he’s advocating a temporary third party, just a conservative who could run for president. You’d split the right-wing vote, the conservative voted, and you’d lose the White House, but at least you”d preserve some integrity of the party and maybe preserve the Senate and the House of Representatives, if you can get some conservatives to show up for the polls. But that’s, I think, the frame in which to think, that it’s not just about one year. It’s about a long tradition in American politics which may be being replaced.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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