Once again, the GOP proves why they are their own worst enemy. The GOP leadership can’t seem to let a frontrunner gain too much steam before calling the RINO brigade take them down.

Real-estate magnate Donald Trump isn’t backing down amid a firestorm over his remarks panning Sen. John McCain’s (R-Arizona) war record.

Trump drew widespread criticism on Saturday after he said McCain is “not a war hero” before reversing himself on the claim. During the Vietnam War, McCain, a pilot, was shot down and held prisoner for more than five years.

Almost all of Trump’s fellow Republican presidential candidates fiercely criticized Trump for the comment and some veteran political observers said he needed to apologize.

But Trump believes they have it backwards: On “Fox & Friends” on Sunday morning, Trump said McCain should apologize to his supporters for calling them “crazies.”

“A week ago, I had thousands of people in Phoenix, Arizona, talking about the whole horrible situation with illegal immigration,” Trump said. “We had thousands and thousands of people. And he called them ‘crazies.’ He insulted them. He should apologize to them, by the way. He insulted them, and then I insulted back.”

Trump had the same message for McCain on ABC’s “This Week.” According to a transcript, he said: “We had thousands of people, and he said they’re all crazies. He called them crazies. And frankly, I think he owes them an apology.” Via: Business Insider

If there are any votes left among tea-party border hawks that haven’t already migrated (temporarily) to Trump, this ought to shake them loose.

To think, there are conservatives out there in America today who are convinced their party’s elder statesmen view them with contempt.

“It’s very bad,” McCain, who was eager to talk about Trump, told me on Monday when I stopped by his Senate office. The Senator is up for reëlection in 2016 and he pays close attention to how the issue of immigration is playing in his state. He was particularly rankled by Trump’s rally. “This performance with our friend out in Phoenix is very hurtful to me,” McCain said. “Because what he did was he fired up the crazies.”…

“We’ll see how this plays out, but there is some anger in my state,” McCain said. He mentioned the continuing challenges of border security that were vividly highlighted when tens of thousands of Central American minors crossed into America last summer. “People who otherwise might be more centrist are angry about this border situation.”

Normally I’d assume McCain’s grouchy because Trump’s rise is another setback for his dream of a new legislative amnesty but this probably has more to do with petty electoral concerns. His boy Lindsey Graham is at risk of being bumped off the presidential debate stage by Trump and McCain himself could face a tougher than expected primary challenge in Arizona if Trumpmentum spills over and galvanizes an “oust Maverick” surge on the right there. In fact, if Trump wants to earn a little goodwill from some of his conservative critics, he should promise to campaign against McCain in the primary next year, replete with donations to his challenger.

There’s no better way to prove you’re anti-establishment than by targeting ol’ Mav for political destruction. And if McCain’s counting on the fact of Trump’s unpopularity to help him out, he should reconsider: At least among Republicans, that unpopularity is no longer a fact. Trump’s gone from being viewed unfavorably by 65 percent of GOPers two months ago to being viewed favorably by 57 percent today. He has a big-name fan too in former Gov. Jan Brewer, who applauded Trump last week for “telling it like it really, truly is” on immigration.

All he needs to do is stay engaged with this issue and Republican politics for the next nine months or so. Which means … yeah, McCain’s probably at no risk. Via: HotAir