Donald Trump—he of the “immigrants are rapists and I’ll build a wall to keep them out and we shouldn’t let Muslims into the country at all” schtick—is selling himself as a uniter, not a divider. After all, he’s a businessman who’s done deals with people of all political persuasions, and there’s no reason being president should be any different than developing real estate.
“I think I’ll get along great with a lot of people,” Trump told a crowd of 1,500 at a Christian college in northwest Iowa. “Before I was doing this, I got along with the Democrats, with the Republicans, with the liberals, with the conservatives. I get along with people.”
Part of the reason this argument, which isn’t brand new for Trump, is resonating now is because his top competitor is asshole extraordinaire Ted Cruz. The uniter claim is also getting legs as establishment Republicans warm to Trump, again because of the threat of Cruz.
Call it hilarious, call it depressing, but there are voters out there who seem willing to believe this line:
“He seems to have a lot of experience to be able to make a deal or make deals, and he has had to work with people that are conservative and people that are liberal and people that are progressive,” said Matt Mousel, 43, who lives in Rock Valley, Iowa, works as a safety specialist for a cheese manufacturer and identifies as politically independent. “And maybe right now that’s what we need — a businessman-type philosophy in the presidential role because there’s a lot of gridlock right now between Congress and the president.”
Yes, because if you can build a hotel with someone who disagrees with you politically, you can also work out political deals with them. It’s exactly the same thing!