Real estate magnate Donald Trump says that if President Ronald Reagan could morph from a liberal Democrat to a conservative Republican icon, then it’s OK if he himself once supported a single-payer health system — a stance that would have hurt him among GOP primary voters in the 2016 presidential race.
Mr. Trump has abandoned talk of government-run, universal health care in favor of GOP-favored reforms, namely the ability to buy insurance across state lines.
“I have evolved, and I have evolved very strongly, and I’m a conservative and I have tremendous support … if you look at your polls, I have support from all over the place, and people are actually shocked by it,” Mr. Trump said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Mr. Trump was the focal point of Thursday night’s debate among the top 10 Republican candidates for president.
His complaints about Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly have attracted much criticism, but Mr. Trump also is taking flak for his flip-flop on health care and use of campaign donations to curry favor with Democratic and Republican politicians over the years.
“When I needed something, people were always there for me. If I supported somebody and three years later I needed something, they were always there for me,” said Mr. Trump, who cast his varied support as a shrewd business move.
Critics have expressed worry that Mr. Trump would sustain a culture of pay-to-play among politicians and special interests, rather than fix it. But the billionaire businessman insisted that he has enough money to stiff-arm deep-pocketed donors.
“I don’t want anybody’s money,” he said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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