NEW YORK, April 11, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Donald Trump has played many roles during his years in the public eye – business magnate, beauty pageant owner, reality TV show host – but few performances have received as much attention as his potential bid to fight Obama for the presidency on the GOP ticket.
Trump now rides a surprising wave of popularity, landing a weekly appearance on Fox News as he rises in the polls on a platform focused on challenging President Obama’s claim to be a natural-born American citizen. In states such as New Hampshire, Trump has been shown to draw significant support away from 2012 hopeful Mitt Romney, a frontrunner for the GOP ticket. In an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Trump was second behind Romney and tied with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Despite professing support for abortion for decades, the New York tycoon has now claimed that he experienced a conversion on the issue “a number of years ago.”
“One thing about me, I’m a very honorable guy, okay? And I’m pro-life, but I changed my view a number of years ago,” Trump told Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody last week.
Trump said that “one of the primary reasons” he changed was from hearing the story of a friend who didn’t want a baby but chose to keep it. “He ends up having the baby and the baby is the apple of his eye. It’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to him. And you know here’s a baby that wasn’t going to be let into life,” he said. “And I heard this, and some other stories, and I am pro-life.”
However, as late as 2007, Trump endorsed top pro-abortion personality Hillary Clinton as well as pro-abortion former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the Democrat and Republican 2008 presidential tickets, saying that they “both would do a good job.”
“I know them, Rudy and Hillary. I think you really have some good candidates,” Trump said in a Larry King Live interview October 15, 2007.
Trump’s donation record is all over the board, with small donations going to pro-life Republicans such as 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain, Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, and George W. Bush, as well as pro-abortion Democrats such as Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, and Senate leader Harry Reid.
The New York Times reported in February that Trump also gave former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, another 100% pro-abortion rated politician, $50,000 for his successful mayoral bid in Chicago.
Politicians familiar with Trump say that his flashy and aggressive campaign makes sense for the flamboyant financier – but not because he’s serious about his political views.
“I know Donald a long time. I never take him seriously. I don’t think he’s a serious candidate,” former Staten Island Congressman Guy Molinari told the New York Post.
Even New Jersey Republican governor Chris Christie, a GOP cult favorite for 2012 despite repeatedly stating he wouldn’t run, gently dismissed Trump’s campaign as being of a piece with his publicity-hungry personality.
“Donald’s a really good friend of mine. I don’t know that Donald really wants to be president,” said Christie in an ABC News interview. “I’ll believe it when I see it. … He’s very outspoken, and he loves to be on the stage and to express his opinions.”