Donald Trump says his determination to conclusively resolve President Barack Obama’s place of birth resonates with GOP voters, and he doesn’t care if Karl Rove criticizes the effort, because it was the Republican strategist’s failures that led to a botched Obama presidency in the first place.
Trump also told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Thursday Obama’s decision to send armed drones into Libya is “a little late” to save the many lives lost, was another sign of his weak leadership, and if he was president he would just go in “and take the oil.”
“Well it’s a little bit late, his whole thing is a little late — he takes so long to make decisions,” Trump said. “And he might have been better off making no decision, or going in early, because so many people have been killed in Libya — it’s unbelievable — it’s a carnage. So, I just don’t think he knows what he’s doing, Greta.”
Van Susteren asked Trump what he would do if he was president, considering it has been some two months since Obama said Libyan despot Moammar Gadhafi must go.
“I would go in and take the oil — I would just go in and take the oil,” Trump replied. “We don’t know who the rebels are, we hear they come from Iran, we hear they’re influenced by Iran or al-Qaida, and, frankly I would go in, I would take the oil — and stop this baby stuff.
“We’re a bunch of babies — we have wars and we leave — we go in, we have wars, we lose lives, we lose money, and we leave,” Trump continued. “I would go in and take the oil and I’d clean up everything. I think he's weak and ineffective on almost every front, including Libya.”
Van Susteren then wondered why Trump thought he was getting so much heat from Republicans — including GOP strategist Rove — for insisting Obama reveal his birth certificate.
“Well, I don't think I'm getting a lot of heat. First of all, I think Karl Rove has a loser issue,” Trump said. “If you look at the Republican Party, 75 percent of [GOP voters] think there is something to it; 25 percent think he wasn’t born in this country — in the meantime . . . I’m leading, or tied for the lead, in virtually every poll.
“So, this is an issue with resilience — it’s something I’m working on very hard,” Trump continued. “If you would have asked me, Greta, two months ago, I really thought he probably was born here — I've been hearing about this issue for two years — every day that goes by, it’s more and more suspicious. Why is our president spending millions in legal fees trying to get away from this issue? There’s something fishy.”
Van Susteren noted that many GOP stalwarts say the birth certificate issue is removing Trump from serious consideration.
“Look, Karl Rove is the man that ran Bush into the ground — Bush finished so weak that we ended up getting Obama — he ran the man into the ground,” Trump said. “And the more I see about Karl Rove, the more I realize maybe it wasn’t completely Bush’s fault. The fact is, Abraham Lincoln couldn’t have beaten Obama because Bush and Rove finished so weakly. So I don’t want to listen to Karl Rove.”
Trump also insisted the name recognition he is enjoying over the birth certificate issue is not why he is doing so well in the polls.
“Well, I think I'm getting the votes because of the fact that they see my stance on China. I’ve made a lot of money with China — I've done deals with China, which I’ll be exposing some day in the very near future, perhaps — and I'm very proud to expose it,” he said. “The fact is, people know that I will do a great job in stopping China from ripping us off, which is what they're doing.
“People know that I will do a great job with OPEC and I will stop this carnage . . . in terms of what they're doing with oil, what they're doing with our gasoline prices,” Trump continued.
“I mean, you’re going to have gasoline that's going to be at $5 and $6 a gallon very, very soon. So I mean, I really think that’s why I'm doing well in the polls, not because of birther — and really, I agree, I have a big name ID — but I don’t think that’s the reason I'm necessarily doing as well as I am in the polls.”
Trump also promised if he runs and is elected president he would bring jobs back to America.
“Greta, I love that question — I would bring the jobs back home,” he said. “They’re making our products in India, in China, in Mexico — look at Newton, Iowa, where Maytag moved to Mexico, took the entire lot of jobs with them — and people in Newton, which was a wonderful place, the unemployment is through the roof right now.
“I’d bring the jobs back home,” Trump continued. “It’s crazy — when you have a credit card and you want to check on your credit card, you call up and there’s somebody from India that you’re talking to. We’d bring the jobs back home — by putting [in] incentives to have people employ our people — not to employ people from India, China, Mexico, and other places, Greta.”
Van Susteren asked how Trump, as an enormously successful businessman, would inspire people “who might not have work experience, might not know the appreciation, and the fun of being productive and having a job.”
“Greta, through education and through spirit — they have no spirit — they feel defeated because there's nobody to lead them — we have no leader in this country,” Trump replied. “Through education — and almost equally as important — through spirit.”
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.