GOP Hopefuls Distance Themselves From Donald Trump

Wall Street Journal

By Patrick O’Connor

July 5, 2015

GOP Hopefuls Distance Themselves From Donald Trump 

Republican White House hopefuls spent the Fourth of July weekend addressing a topic most would rather avoid—Donald Trump.

A number of Mr. Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination distanced themselves from comments the real-estate mogul made last month about Mexican immigrants.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry Sunday stepped up his criticism of  Mr. Trump, who suggested in announcing his candidacy June 16 that a disproportionate share of Mexican immigrants are “rapists” or “bringing drugs” to the U.S.—comments the real-estate-mogul-turned-reality-TV-star continues to defend.

“Donald Trump does not represent the Republican Party,” Mr. Perry said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I was offended by his remarks.”

The former governor also pushed back on Mr. Trump’s assertion that Mr. Perry did not do a good job preventing immigrants from coming across the state’s border with Mexico. “I don’t think he understands the challenge, obviously,” Mr. Perry said, before citing his efforts to stem the flood of immigrant children to the border last summer. “Mr. Trump doesn’t know that.”

Whatever Mr. Trump’s prospects are for winning the GOP nomination, he has had an undeniable impact on the contest, drawing attention for his indelicate remarks about immigrants and provoking further scrutiny about how some Republicans discuss the issue of immigration and whether their rhetoric will alienate Latino voters in 2016.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney have all condemned Mr. Trump in recent days for the tone and substance of his remarks. Mr. Bush, whose wife was born in Mexico, was particularly pointed, suggesting Mr. Trump is just trying to generate media coverage for his presidential campaign.

“He’s doing this to inflame and incite and draw attention, which seems to be his organizing principle,” Mr. Bush told reporters after a Fourth of July parade in Merrimack, N.H.

“This is a guy who was a Democrat for most of the last decade,” Mr. Bush said, according to a video clip by CBS News CBSA -1.26%. “I don’t think he represents the Republican Party, and his views are way out of the mainstream of what most Republicans think.”

Mr. Trump quickly responded to Mr. Bush, issuing a statement to say, “Jeb Bush once again proves that he is out of touch with the American people…he doesn’t understand anything about the border or border security.”

On Sunday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, another Republican looking to win over the most conservative GOP voters, seemed to side with the substance of what Mr. Trump said, if not the way he said it.

“People who are coming illegally obviously are coming with a bad intent, let’s just be honest,” Mr. Santorum said during an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “They’re coming with the clear intent of breaking the law. I don’t think we can sugarcoat that but that doesn’t mean that everybody who’s coming across is a rapist or murderer or anything else.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the few Republicans to defend Mr. Trump, again praised his rival for spotlighting immigration as a major issue in the 2016 White House race, but said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he’s “not going to engage in the media’s game of throwing rocks and attacking other Republicans. I’m just not going to do it.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, another Republican in the race, sidestepped the issue during an interview on CNN, saying, “Donald Trump needs no help from Mike Huckabee to get publicity. He’s doing a really good job of that.”

Mr. Trump’s corporate partners, including NBC Universal and Macy’s M -0.40%, have severed their business partnerships with the polarizing reality-TV star since he made the comments.

But public-opinion surveys show Mr. Trump gaining ground, not losing ground, with Republican primary voters.

National polls by CNN and Fox News conducted at the end of June show Mr. Trump in second place, behind Mr. Bush, among other Republicans vying for the nomination. He also claimed the no. 2 spot in the most recent polls of Republicans in the first two nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

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