Donald Trump. (Associated Press)LAS VEGAS — After repeatedly flirting with his own presidential bid last year, business tycoon Donald Trump on Thursday picked someone else as his stand-in, endorsing fellow businessman Mitt Romney.
“Mitt is tough, he’s smart, he’s sharp. He’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country we all love,” Mr. Trump said at his resort, the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. “Governor Romney, go out and get ‘em. You can do it.”
Mr. Romney stood by his side, accepting the endorsement with what seemed like bemusement, and at one point even referring formally to his host as “Mr. Trump.”
“Some things you just can’t imagine happening in your life. This is one of them,” Mr. Romney said.
The affair had a bit of a reality-show air to it. Earlier in the week aides to Newt Gingrich, another of the candidates seeking the GOP’s nomination, told reporters they’d been asked to clear off part of his schedule — presumably to accept an endorsement.
But by Thursday morning word leaked that Mr. Romney was the choice.
The endorsement is more sizzle than substance. Mr. Trump has a high public profile and the endorsement will earn headlines, but he does not bring a political operation or any of the other benefits that come from endorsements of long-time politicians.
He also brings baggage. During his flirtation with a presidential bid he questioned whether President Obama was born in the U.S., and thus eligible to be president. He even said he’d sent investigators to Hawaii to look into the situation.
In response Mr. Obama, who had earlier released the “short-form” birth certificate from Hawaii, released the longer version in April.
On Thursday the White House laughed off the news of Mr. Trump’s endorsement, with press secretary Jay Carney cracking jokes making fun of Mr. Trump’s hair.
“I think the president gave his views about Mr. Trump at the dinner that many of you attended last spring,” Mr. Carney said, referring to the White House Correspondents Association dinner when the president joked about the investigation, comparing it to conspiracy theories about faking the 1969 moon landing or aliens landing in Roswell, N.M.
Mr. Trump, who was in attendance at the dinner, sat through the roasting with a smirk.
At his endorsement on Thursday Mr. Trump didn’t go into details about why he was backing Mr. Romney, but earlier in the day he told reporters he liked Mr. Romney’s focus on pushing back against China’s trade and monetary practices.
In laying out his economic policies here in Nevada last spring, Mr. Romney had singled out China, saying it was cheating by holding the value of its currency down.
No comments:
Post a Comment