Donald Trump claims he would be a “great unifier” should he be elected the next U.S. president.
The Republican presidential front-runner joined CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday for a wide-ranging interview, during which he discussed the hyperpartisan culture that’s consumed Washington in the last decade.
“The level of hatred between Republicans and Democrats is unbelievable,” Trump told Tapper. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He continued, “In all the years that I’ve been involved in politics, I have never seen dislike, hatred, whatever you want to call it, at the level I see right now.”
But if the billionaire succeeds in his bid for the White House, he claims Americans can expect the nation to be far less divided.
“I’m going to unify this country,” Trump said Sunday. “[President] Barack Obama has divided this country unbelievably and it’s all hatred. The people that know me, they call up and say, ‘You’re right, I’ve seen it.'”
The New York businessman, who’s been criticized by Republicans for his past contributions to the Clinton Foundation and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s 2006 Senate re-election campaign, touted his relationship with individuals in both parties.
“Over the years, I’ve gotten along with Democrats and I’ve gotten along with Republicans. I get along with everybody [and] I will be a great unifier for our country,” he said.
Trump, who tops the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings, is slated to head the two earliest voting states, Iowa and New Hampshire, next week ahead of the third GOP primary debate in Boulder, Colo., on Oct. 28.
