When Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for President, Romney was the front-runner by a mile. Word was that Donald Trump would endorse Newt Gingrich, and in fact, Newt Gingrich was led to believe he would receive the blessing of The Donald.
An abrupt change in plans gave the endorsement to Mitt Romney. I might add, a surprised and reluctant Mitt Romney. Given the choice, Romney would have said no thanks. The Donald has a way of cornering people, so Romney accepted the endorsement.
However, Donald Trump is endorsing Republican front-runner Mitt Romney. The same Mitt Romney that had snubbed The Donald late last year for the infamous "Trump debate." Donald Trump is once again inserting himself into national politics, after being absent in what seems to be a lifetime.
LAS VEGAS — Donald Trump will endorse Mitt Romney for president here shortly after noon on Thursday, a source confirmed.
In typical Trump fashion, the endorsement up until the last minute had the flamboyant air of mystery — and chaos — associated with a man who is perhaps best known for firing people on prime time television. Wednesday night, reports were leaking out of Newt Gingrich‘s campaign that Mr. Trump was throwing his support behind Mr. Gingrich, and as late as Thursday morning, several news organizations, including Fox News, were still reporting that Mr. Gingrich was in line for Mr. Trump’s endorsement.
The Romney campaign did not release their public schedule until Thursday morning — a rarity for them — and even then their 12:30 p.m. slot (the time at which Mr. Trump is set to endorse) stood vague, offering only: “Romney for President Event. TBD Location. Las Vegas, Nevada.” Mr. Romney will appear with Mr. Trump at his Trump International Hotel & Tower here.
The timing of the endorsement was good for The Donald because it came on the heels of a new season for his highly-rated NBC television reality show, Celebrity Apprentice.
It was covered by all three cable news networks; Fox News Channel, CNN and, of course, MSNBC which is a cable cousin of “Celebrity Apprentice” network NBC. It was also covered by many other media outlets, including The Washington Post.
This is very good publicity for “Celebrity Apprentice” and for NBC, which can use all the publicity it can get this season.
Trump’s big political swings and his “Celebrity Apprentice” schedule sometimes seem to go hand in hand.
While the publicity was good for The Donald and Celebrity Apprentice since that endorsement, Mitt Romney has slipped badly losing three elections: two caucuses and one primary election. The future is not looking so bright for Romney either.
It begs the question is Donald Trump's worthless endorsement a political kiss of death. Maybe not so worthless after all, just not very positive for Romney. A big negative for Mitt Romney.
Can The Donald save Mitt Romney? I am sure if you ask Mitt Romney he would say to The Donald, "Please, don't help me anymore."
Send John Presta an email and your story ideas or suggestions, johnpresta@att.net.
John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African-American studies, published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books
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