Trump hints at independent run for presidency

Donald Trump upped the volume in his already controversial political campaign Thursday, hinting that he could run as an independent if Republican leaders try to isolate him.

Trump has dominated political news for two weeks as disparaging remarks he made about Mexican immigrants, labeling them drug runners and “rapists,” have caused steadily mounting concern among many Republican strategists.

Party officials, who have emphasized a need to reach out to Latino voters, have watched as Trump’s comments have threatened to worsen the GOP’s already weak image among that growing group of voters. His remarks have divided the GOP presidential candidates and delighted Democratic operatives.

Since the initial remarks he made during his campaign kickoff last month in New York, Trump has escalated his comments in a series of radio and television interviews, claiming that the Mexican government had deliberately sent criminals to the U.S.

Amid deepening concerns from GOP donors, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus spoke to Trump on Wednesday, urging him to “tone down” his comments.

Trump disputed a report of the call that initially appeared in The Washington Post, which said the call had lasted about an hour.

“Totally false reporting on my call with Reince Priebus. He called me, ten minutes, said I hit a ‘nerve,’ doing well, end,” he tweeted. But he confirmed that the two had spoken and that Priebus had urged him to be more measured in his comments.

In an interview with the Post on Thursday and later in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Trump issued a thinly veiled threat that he could run as an independent candidate and pointedly would not commit to supporting the GOP ticket should he fail to win the nomination.

“I would have to see who the nominee is,” he said.

“So many people want me to run as an independent, so many people,” he told the Post, “everybody wants me to do it.” He added that the “best chance of defeating the Democrats” would be if he were the GOP nominee.

In the Hannity interview, Trump repeated his view that the Mexican government was deliberately sending criminals across the border into the United States.

“They are sending us their criminals. We’re not talking about the good – the good people come and they’re great people, they’re better than good people. I love the Mexican people,” he said, according to a transcript released by the network. “They have tremendous spirit, they have tremendous vibrance and life. I love them I have so many friends. I respect the country of Mexico.”

But, he said, the country’s “leadership is much smarter than our leadership. … They’re killing us at the border.”