WHAT DOES A 27-YEAR-OLD INTERVIEW TELL US?
by Sharon Rondeau
(Nov. 20, 2015) — In an in-studio interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey in 1988, 42-year-old Donald J. Trump said that if he were to run for president, “I think I’d win.”
In response to Winfrey’s question as to whether or not he “ever” planned to run for president, Trump first expressed doubt. “I just don’t think I have the inclination to do it,” Trump said. However, when pressed, he said, “I would never want to rule it out totally.”
The discussion centered first on the economy and free trade issues, then the 1988 presidential primary season among George H.W. Bush, Jesse Jackson, and Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, all of whom he complimented for their respective campaigns.
Sen. Robert Dole and Christian evangelist Pat Robertson challenged Bush, who was President Ronald Reagan’s vice-president, during the Republican primary.
Jackson was one of eight Democrats who competed for their party’s nomination, which ultimately went to Dukakis.
Bush won the election with 53% of the popular vote and 426 electoral votes.
“I’ve never gone in to lose,” Trump said of a hypothetical presidential candidacy at the time.
Trump declared himself a candidate in June and has led in virtually all polls since that time. “I’m in it to win it,” he said during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, while still denouncing “free trade” agreements as harmful to the United States. In a policy statement, he has particularly criticized the U.S.’s trade agreement with China.
He advocates “immigration reform,” a “fast” amelioration of the lack of medical care experienced by America’s veterans, and supports the Second Amendment.
Trump has enjoyed extensive media coverage since launching his campaign.