Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump would not rule out making a run for president as an independent despite signing a pledge over the summer saying he would support the eventual GOP nominee instead of running a third-party bid.
“I’m going to have to see what happens. I will see what happens. I have to be treated fairly,” Trump said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” when asked about a new guerrilla effort by operatives within the Republican Party to derail Trump’s candidacy. “When I did this, I said I have to be treated fairly. If I’m treated fairly, I’m fine. All I want to do is [have] a level playing field."
Trump has previously cited “fairness” as a reason he would run a third-party bid. In September, when he signed the pledge, he said he gained nothing besides "assurance that I’ll be treated fairly.”
If he ran independent, I dont think he would split the vote like Perot did in the 80’s, and I think he would win because everyone is so pissed off at the career politicians.
If Trump becomes an Independent candidate not only will the Republicans be screwed but that will pretty much hand over the Presidency on a silver platter to Hillary Clinton.
Trump is doing so well because he is anti establishment. If he does not get the support of the GOP (the establishment) after the primary elections, even though he wins enough to earn their support, the voters will be more pissed and push for him harder then before. Especially if he gets Cruz, or some other outspoken republican, to run with him as VP.
That being said, the “uninformed voters” seem to be drawn towards Sanders and the socialists/communists because they want free stuff, and that could loos it for us regardless of who is running against them. Among the uninformed I included most everyone who is collecting some sort of govt. assistance and too lazy to go to work.
I agree to a certain extent also with John. Trump going rouge will put a dent in his future campaign. Even though his views and followers are on the more “anti” political side, he still needs the political party support to make the sun and moon align for his finish line goal.
Why? He has his own money and donations will start pouring in to help support him. @chris - is there a way to highlight or change the color of selected text in a quote?
No matter what there is and will always be politics invovled in the process. You are correct that Trump has the money and the following on his own. But he still needs those key political people and ties to make it work. He still has to play the game with certain key parties to go all the way.
It’s simple. Going independent divides the conservatives. The liberals will vote Hillary any way you look at it but conservatives will be divided between Trump and the Republican ticket. Divided we fall. Hillary by a landslide if Trump is independent.
Yea its a no brainer what will happened if Trump switches to the independent party on which party will win.
This Country is basically ran by a 2 party system. Just look at our congress. Its either democrat or republican. If Trump defects to the third party all is lost on the republican side and Hillary wins on a landslide. I think Trump knows this and he’s only dangling that Independence party Carrot because he’s smart.
@JCinNJ - there is a plugin that handles that. We have yet to install it as I wanted to see what the forum can do in the most stripped down fashion. I’m not opposed to installing it though if you think it would be a good feature.
I disagree.
The majority of the voters, all sides, are sick and tired of politicians and the lies they tell just to get elected. Trump gets flack for telling the truth and every news station, along with political insiders, report he will his loose support. And every single time his support grows.
Yes but most of his support comes from the republican side of things. Do you know any democrats that would vote for Trump? I sure don’t. His views lean way to far to the right. Trump needs the republican ticket and the entire republican vote to stand a chance. And even then it may not be enough.
I’ve never met anyone who voted for obama, Dem or Repub, yet he still won, how could that be? In reality I know three people who voted for him, 1 because he was cute and the other two because he is black and they wanted to be part of history in some way.?..?..
I have met two people (freshman college and sophomore highschool) who love Sanders. When asked why they said because everyone on (fill in social media) likes him. When pressed for reasons why they like him, the elder person got mad and walked out of the room and the younger asked why I dont like him. I gave specific reasons that were backed up with google searchs and ended the conversation with “dont believe what you hear on the internet, most people there have nothing better to do with there lives and they are in search of someone to take care of them. Do your own independent research from multiple credited sources and then make a decision. And read the history of this Country and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights”
