Should Mitt Romney repudiate Donald Trump?
| Washington
Should Mitt Romney repudiate Donald Trump? This question arises because A) Romney joins Trump for a fundraiser in Las Vegas Tuesday night, and B) Trump continues to question whether President Obama was born in the United States.
It's true 鈥� even though Obama has released his long-form birth certificate from Hawaii, the Donald says he remains unconvinced of the citizenship of the nation鈥檚 chief executive. In with the Daily Beast last week, Mr. Trump pointed to an old Obama bio from a literary agency that listed him as a Kenyan native.
The literary folks in question quickly corrected what they said at the time was an error, and an employee admitted the mistake. Trump thinks that鈥檚 suspicious.
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 know he was running for president, so he told the truth,鈥� the developer/reality show host told the Beast鈥檚 Lloyd Grove.
On Tuesday, Trump doubled down, writing on that Mr. Obama is 鈥減ractically begging鈥� Mr. Romney 鈥渢o disavow the place of birth movement, he is afraid of it and for good reason.鈥�
Unsurprisingly, the Obama campaign is all over this. The president鈥檚 camp Tuesday that contrasts Sen. John McCain correcting voters鈥� misinformation about Obama with Romney鈥檚 Trumpian embrace.
Mitt Romney, meanwhile, is waving the dispute aside. Asked about it on Monday, he said 鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don鈥檛 all agree with everything I believe in.鈥�
Even if Romney wanted to keep Trump at arm鈥檚 length, now鈥檚 a bad time. Tonight鈥檚 Las Vegas dinner should raise $2 million for Romney鈥檚 coffers. The pair even near them to raise extra dough.
And here鈥檚 our view: Romney doesn鈥檛 have to repudiate Trump, because a political association with the 鈥�Celebrity Apprentice鈥� chief, however tenuous, is its own punishment.
Look at it in this context: surely you鈥檝e heard Trump rant about something or other on 鈥�Fox & Friends,鈥� or 鈥�The View.鈥� If you were as rich as Romney, wouldn鈥檛 you pay $2 million to avoid having dinner with that person? Of course you would.
But Romney鈥檚 gritting his teeth and bearing up for the sake of party harmony. Or something 鈥� conservative columnist George Will, for the life of him, can鈥檛 understand why the presumptive GOP nominee started down this road at all.
鈥淚 do not understand the cost/benefit here.... The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me,鈥� said Will on Sunday during an appearance on ABC News鈥� 鈥淭he Week.鈥�
Trump on his Twitter feed, writing that Will is the 鈥渄umbest鈥� and 鈥渕ost overrated鈥� political commentator of 鈥渁ll time.鈥�
鈥淚f the Republicans listen to him, they will lose,鈥� wrote Trump.
