RUSH: Grab a quick phone call here in the first hour. We’ll go to Greg in the steel city. Greg in Pittsburgh. It’s great to have you, sir. Hi.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. How are you?
RUSH: I’m good. Thank you.
CALLER: Hey, with Mr. Trump’s latest victory last night, I think the Republican voters have to start getting in the mind-set of not so much as, you know, Trump, you like what he says and kind of entertaining and spontaneous and however crudely, you know, during his rallies. I think we have to start looking at him in the Oval Office, as president. It’s all good and well to reject the Republican establishment I think. Many, many people understand that. But can you picture a President Trump representing the country, like at a state funeral, representing the high —
RUSH: Greg, it’s interesting that you — ’cause Trump himself addressed this on the NBC Nightly News. I’m looking at the clock. We can squeeze these in, but I’m gonna have to play them again to analyze ’em. Trump was asked by Lester Holt last night, how different a Trump presidency would be from a Trump campaign. That’s essentially what the question was.
HOLT: Last night you used a pretty vulgar term, repeating something someone in the crowd had said. And I’m wondering to myself, would you say that as president of the United States —
TRUMP: No.
HOLT: — with that seal on the podium?
TRUMP: Much different. Much different.
HOLT: So are you gonna be a different guy as president than the one we see out here?
TRUMP: I went to the best school; I was a good student; I have an uncle who was, you know, one of the top, top professors at MIT. I mean, there’s a good gene poll right there. I have to do what I have to do.
RUSH: “So Donald, you’re saying this is an act?”
TRUMP: No, it’s not an act. Last night I had thousands of people, we had a great time, and it wasn’t my word; it was a word that a woman kept shouting, and I repeated it. I only repeated the word. And the place was wild. Standing ovation, everybody —
HOLT: But that doesn’t mean it was in good taste.
TRUMP: Well, no, but I’ll tell you what. When you’re president or if you’re about to be president, you would act differently. It’s not a question of acting. I want to be different. You’re being hit from 15 different sides. I want to be different. When you’re president, you act in a different way, there’s no question about that. And I would do that.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here’s Sarah in Darnestown, Maryland. Great to have you. Appreciate your patience, and hello.
CALLER: Hey, Rush, great to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you. Thank you very much.
CALLER: I agree with your point earlier that the Republicans have missed a huge opportunity, but I just think Trump is not the answer, really for two main reasons. One, he’s not a conservative. And I think after Mitt lost we all spent so much time reflecting and saying, “Well, that’s what we got for not electing a conservative.” And I think the other main problem is his demeanor. It’s just not presidential. I mean, we’ve spent years still revisiting Clinton and what a disaster that was. And I just think it would be such a mistake for the Republicans to elect someone or nominate someone who’s so boorish and classless and have him associated with the Republican Party.
RUSH: And I want you to keep listening because in the next hour we’re gonna gets back to these two Trump sound bites where he’s asked about this and he admits that it’s all gonna change when he becomes president, that there’s a different set of requirements when you’re running and you’re campaigning in your primaries, but when you actually win the whole thing and become president, you gotta change; and he assures people he’s going to change. It was a question specifically related to the kitty cat name that his female audience member called Cruz.
But, you know, this conservative angle, your question about Romney is good, but here’s the difference. I know that it’s true, we had a bunch of Republicans sit home in 2012 because Romney wasn’t conservative enough, and you’re asking what about Trump. I think a lot of conservatives — and don’t forget, look, this is gonna irritate a lot of people, but you look at the exit polling and how it’s backed up by the actual returns in New Hampshire, conservatives are not the majority of Trump’s coalition. They are not.
He’s got a coalition made up of virtually every group of people and every demographic and every nationality, every ethnicity. And the conservatives that are in his — I think it’s not about the conservatism anymore to them. They’re saying, “What good has all this conservatism done us anyway?” Now, Sarah, if you have further questions, hang on. I’ll be glad to answer ’em. I just am out of time right now.
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