Jim Rosica
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday said he won’t break his pledge not to run as an independent if he loses the GOP nomination.
Trump was back on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program via telephone. He last appeared Aug. 28.
He also called the Iran nuclear deal “disastrous” and said “possibly yes” to taking people into the United States from Europe’s current refugee crisis.
He said he won’t break his pledge because “that road, going independent, is a very, very long and tough road.”
“I’m not saying it can’t be done and it can be done … I’m leading every poll by a lot,” Trump said. “Every poll nationally, every poll in the state. I mean every single poll I’m leading in, and in most cases by, you know, really large numbers.”
But, he added, “I want to be the Republican nominee and I want to go on to win” the general election.
Regarding the deal with Iran, he said, “I think that it is a disastrous deal in so many ways.”
The deal, worked out between Iran and a group of world powers including the United States, will limit Iran’s ability to use nuclear technology in return for lifting financial and other sanctions against the country.
But Trump sees a silver lining.
“I have all my life – I love to buy bad contracts where key people go bust and I make those contracts good,” he said. “This is a perfect example of taking over a bad contract ….
“Iran is going to be an absolute terror,” Trump said. “It’s horrible that we have to live with it. Nevertheless, we have a contract, we’ve lost the power of sanctions.”
He also said a Kentucky court clerk was wrong when she refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses based on her religious convictions.
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right of gays to marry, Trump said, “and that is the law of the land.”
Asked about the ongoing European refugee crisis, he said “possibly yes” to letting some refugees into the United States.
“But we have so many problems of our own,” Trump said. “We have our own border problems that are big league that I exposed. I think if I didn’t expose them, I don’t think you would be talking about them right now. It’s become a very big subject of debate.”
Finally, he clarified his critical comments about fellow GOP candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaking in Spanish.
“I respect the fact that he speaks Spanish; I think it’s great that he speaks Spanish,” Trump said. “The only problem is, and I’ve heard it from Day One, you have many people in this country that feel this is a country where it’s English; you have to speak English.”
