Donald Trump and Eric Branstad.
Governor Terry Branstad this morning said he’ll be out-spoken, but will not have a “specific role” in Donald Trump’s political organization now that his oldest son, Eric, is the state director for Trump’s campaign.
“I’m certainly going to do all I can. I think people know me well that I’m not a shrinking violet,” Branstad told reporters. “I tend to be one that gets proactively involved and I certainly intend to in this campaign, as I have in the past.”
Eric Branstad was interviewed for the job in Washington, D.C. by someone who’s no longer with the campaign and, today, Trump fired his campaign manager.
Governor Branstad said as far as he knows, his son still has a job with the campaign.
“It’s a non-traditional campaign that he’s run and I’m sure will run,” Branstad said. “But I think he’s going to bring in some professionals that have been through campaigns before that can help him in doing this and I would just say: ‘Don’t count him out.'”
Trump is “retooling” his campaign, according to Branstad, and the governor said no one should “underestimate” what Trump can accomplish.
“It’s certainly a different campaign than we’ve ever seen before,” Branstad said. “…We want to ‘Make America Great Again,’ as the Trump campaign has said. I think a lot of Americans identify with that.”
Branstad told reporters he’s disappointed a state senator switched his voter registration from Republican to “no party” to protest Trump as the GOP nominee.
“I think he’s made a mistake,” Branstad said this morning.
And the governor said state Senator David Johnson of Ocheyedan should “reconsider” his “Never Trump” stand.
“He comes from a very Republican area and I think a lot of people up there think he should support his constituents,” Branstad said.
Trump “has attracted a tremendous amount of people” to the Republican Party, Branstad said, and supporting the party’s nominee “is the way the system works.” Plus, the governor said it’s a sign of “respect” for the will of the people.