It’s understandably difficult to champion a man who once likened you to a pathological child molester. This is the plight of the polite and mild-mannered Ben Carson, who has appeared downright tepid about his endorsement of Donald Trump.
“Even if Donald Trump turns out not to be such a great president, which I don’t think is the case, I think he’s going to surround himself with really good people, but even if he didn’t, we’re only looking at four years as opposed to multiple generations and perhaps the loss of the American dream forever,” Carson told NewsmaxTV on Monday.
Three things: Carson entertained the possibility that his chosen candidate might be an underwhelming leader, implied that Trump will need a crack staff to avoid such a disappointing fate, and intimated that a multi-term Trump presidency could result in the disintegration of American society. Not bad for one sentence.
Chris Christie, for his part, slogged through many paragraphs in a recent interview to explain his support for Trump. ABC’s George Stephanopolous challenged the governor to answer a question he himself posed during the campaign: “How is [Trump] going to make the Mexicans pay for the wall? How?” Christie demurred.
“The fact is that [Trump] going to have to answer that question. And he will.”
Say this: Those accusing the New Jersey governor of changing his positions must’ve skipped over this particular answer.
The ABC host used Christie’s own words against him a second time, playing a video of him mocking Trump’s reassurance that the country will be so “amazingly wealthy and rich” we won’t have to reform Social Security. “How?” Christie asked rhetorically in the video.
“Again, the question is, how?” Stephanopolous echoed.
Christie didn’t have an answer beyond saying that he won’t always agree with Trump.
“[W]hat I’m saying is that he’s going to give more complete answers as time goes on on these issues,” he reiterated.
As the attacks against Trump from GOP leaders and rivals have intensified, chatter about the Republican party’s cohesiveness in the general election has increased. How does the party not fracture? How does Mitt Romney or Marco Rubio, who have torched the frontrunner in pointed and sometimes personal criticisms, walk back their remarks? How would Rubio, who Trump has ridiculed as “little Marco”, or Ted Cruz, who Trump has called “lyin’ Ted”, line up behind Trump as the nominee?
They could ask Carson and Christie for advice. But their answers might not be too convincing.
