Donald Trump said Wednesday that he doesn't want to attack any of his competitors for the GOP nomination in the first debate of the 2016 presidential election, but the option is still there for some fireworks.
"I don't want to attack anybody, and maybe I'll be attacked and maybe not," the Republican front-runner told
ABC's "Good Morning America" host George Stephanopoulos. "I'd rather just discuss the issues but, you know, certainly I don't want to attack. If I'm attacked I have to, you know, do something back, but I'd like it to be very civil."
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But still, Trump said he "probably" will be the target in Thursday's debate in Cleveland, but also reminded Stephanopoulos that two of his major attackers in the race, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, did not score highly enough in national polls to be on the main debate stage.
"Those who attacked me viciously went down substantially," he said. "Lindsey Graham went down to zero ... the voters were fantastic."
Meanwhile, Trump went on to deny comments about him made by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who said Tuesday that Trump's strategy to get himself to the top of the race was to "prey" on Americans' "fear and angst."
Bush made the comments during an interview Tuesday with the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, reports
The New York Times, and went on to say that Trump's "harsh tone is wrong."
Bush conceded that Americans are angry and feel alienated, as "they see America moving away from them," but cautioned that winning the election and going "the right way, we have to unite rather than divide."
Trump told Stephanopoulos that the United States is in trouble "because politicians have driven us into the ground ... they don't know what they're doing. [They are] certainly good at getting elected, and after they get elected they don't do anything. They're all talk, no action."
He continued that his campaign theme, "Make America Great Again," is important, particularly the word "again," because "now we're second to China. We're going down further. We're 25th in the world in education. Look at education, we have Third World nations that do better than we do, and yet we spend far more per student than any other country in the world."
Trump also said he was proud to bring up the issues concerning illegal immigration, for which he "took a lot of heat" starting with the first week of his campaign.
"Now everybody is saying I was right and they're apologizing to me, and it's become a major point which I'm very proud of," said Trump. "[Illegal immigration] is a disaster for our country."
He also denied a statement Bush made in the past about people crossing the border as
"acts of love."
"When you talk about acts of love, that's the problem we have," said Trump. "Kate [Steinle], beautiful Kate in San Francisco, was killed by somebody that came over five times. Jamiel [Shaw], a wonderful young man, killed, maybe going to Stanford, great football player, great parents. I met his father, such a great man, he was shot to death point-blank.
"So many, and, you know, I've brought that issue to the forefront and I'm so proud of it because it is a huge problem. Not to mention the crime coming across, the drugs coming across and when the drugs come across, George, the money goes back into Mexico. We have a problem."
Trump did acknowledge that he has changed his positions several times over the years, including stances on healthcare and abortion that have often aligned with liberal views, but said he has "evolved like a lot of other people."
"Ronald Reagan evolved," said Trump. "He was a Democrat and became a Republican, and was liberal as a young man and became a Republican and did very well. I have great respect for him. I helped him. I knew him. He liked me and I liked him."
"Everybody on that [debate] stage has changed position on different things. But I've always been tough on very important issues and issues like, as an example, the border, the military, the vets," said Trump, also making a promise to take care of veterans, who "the politicians in Washington" have let down.
"I will take care of our vets and I will take care of our military," he said. "We will be so strong that people will not mess with us."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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