By Tara Golshan
Primary election Donald Trump can’t decide how “presidential” general election Trump should be.
Trump, who decisively swept all five primaries in Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Pennsylvania fielded multiple questions Tuesday on how he will act after winning the Republican nomination.
First he said he would never change:
I have had many, many people write in, tweet in, modern way of calling in, please don’t change. I am not changing, I went to the best schools, I am a smart person. I will represent our country with dignity. I don’t want to change. I think, it got me here. Somebody said, if you change, if you were that way, you wouldn’t be where you are right now.
Then he said change is good and necessary for leading the country.
In life, you have to be flexible, you have to have flexibility. You have to change. You may say one thing, and then want to change it. I followed people for years, I have friends that are the most successful people in the world. Many of them are endorsing me. Many great business people are endorsing me. You have to have flexibility. You can’t say this is my doctrine. You can’t say that.
Trump has long toyed with voters over his “real” persona versus his “presidential” persona throughout the election, having garnered a lot of criticism from the party establishment for his political incorrectness.
The debate over his tone came to a head this week after shifting campaign management responsibilities from Corey Lewandowski – who was known for letting Trump be Trump – to Paul Manafort, who privately told leaders in the Republican Party that Trump would be more presidential after winning the nomination, first reported by Politico. Manafort’s comments, however, seem to have struck ire with Trump who said he wouldn’t be the Republican frontrunner had it not been for his tell-it-like-it-is campaign style.
“I will never change one thing,” Trump said. “You know what I will never change, make America great again. That is one thing I won’t change. It is not going to be the Trump doctrine.”
