Trump back making waves
Republican front-runner hits rough patch but won’t rule out running as independent
BURLINGTON, WIS.— Donald Trump is back on his always lively and often combustible campaign rally circuit as presidential contenders in both parties bid for advantage in Wisconsin’s primaries Tuesday.
Overshadowing the Republican race: a persistent effort by Trump’s rivals in the campaign — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich — and the party to force the nomination fight into the July convention, as well as the front-runner’s equivocations on whether he will be loyal to the Republican Party or bolt for an independent candidacy if he feels mistreated.
Wisconsin has emerged as a proving ground for anti-Trump forces as the former reality TV star’s campaign hit a rough patch. Trump defended his campaign manager after he was charged with battery against a reporter, backtracked from comments that women should be punished for having abortions, encountered a buzzsaw of hostile interviews by conservative Wisconsin talk radio hosts and watched Cruz overtake him in preference polls in the Midwestern state.
On the eve of his Saturday events in Wisconsin and North Dakota, Cruz told a Milwaukee County Republican dinner that Trump as the Republican nominee would be “a train wreck,” quipping: “That’s actually not fair to train wrecks.”
Cruz, who’s running second behind Trump in primary contests, said Republicans would hand the White House to Hillary Clinton with Trump as the nominee, a fear shared by many in the party.
The Democratic race has grown increasingly bitter, too, though it has not matched the Republican contest for raw hostility. Saturday night, Clinton and Bernie Sanders attended a Wisconsin Democratic Party dinner. Their attention will quickly turn to an even more consequential contest, the New York primary on April19, where the Democratic frontrunner dearly hopes to avoid an upset in the state she served as senator. Sanders, who was born in Brooklyn, can claim New York as his home state.
Bundled up in winter jackets and gloves, Sanders supporters waited for hours on the University of Wisconsin’s Eau Claire campus, standing in several inches of snow for a chance to hear the Vermont senator speak.
Sophomore Joseph Lehto said he probably will vote for an independent if Sanders doesn’t get the nomination. “Hillary Clinton is a conservative disguised by mildly social policies,” he said. “She is more of a warmonger than just about anyone.”
Trump had two afternoon rallies Saturday and one in the evening, in Racine, Wausau and Eau Claire.
In Janesville, Wisc., earlier in the week, a man pepper-sprayed a 15year-old girl as Trump opponents and supporters clashed outside his rally. About 1,000 people attended the rally while about as many protested outside.
In an interview Friday, to be broadcast on Fox News Sunday, Trump left open the question of an independent candidacy when asked about it. “I want to run as a Republican,” Trump said.
But if he doesn’t get the nomination? “I’m going to have to see how I was treated. Very simple.”