Jim Rosica
Republican candidate Donald Trump on Friday said he’s “never getting out” of the race for the presidency, denying reports that he’s plateaued in popularity.
Trump joined MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, his 14th appearance on that show either in person or by phone since announcing his candidacy.
Host Joe Scarborough, a former North Florida congressman, jokingly warned Trump that he was slipping in the polls.
Of course, he’s not.
Trump stands at 27.8 percent in the latest Huffington Post average of presidential preference polls, with retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson a distant second at 16.2 percent.
“… When are you going to quit, Donald?” Scarborough said.
Trump answered, “You know, the amazing thing, I was with (NBC News political director) Chuck Todd who was very good and, you know, I did “Meet the Press,” and he said, ‘Well, would you get out?’
“And I made the statement that, well, you know, if I could see I wasn’t going to win and if my numbers were really terrible and you wouldn’t call, if I saw it wasn’t going to happen, of course, I would.
“The next headline is ‘Trump is considering getting out of there,'” Trump said. “It was ridiculous … So, you know, what I say right now, I give more of a political answer: I’m never getting out.”
On the other hand, Trump predicted that U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky would likely be next to drop out.
Paul is polling at 3.4 percent, ahead of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and others.
“I think (Paul) has to go back to the people of Kentucky,” Trump said. “I think the people of Kentucky are not being treated fairly by him and I think he’s going to have to either do one thing or the other. I don’t think it’s fair to the people of Kentucky.
The full video is at: http://on.msnbc.com/1MjUykM
