GOP leaders are fooling themselves if they expect Donald Trump to tone down his rhetoric — and should speak out against him, CNN commentator Fareed Zakaria said Sunday.
In a scathing condemnation on his
"GPS" program, Zakaria decried Trump's tweet to "congratulate himself" in the wake of last week's mass shooting of 49 people in Orlando, Fla., by a gunman who claimed allegiance to ISIS.
"We now know who Donald Trump is," Zakaria said. "But what is the Republican Party? Most Republican leaders still hold out hope that despite the fact that Trump is, in George Will’s accurate description, the most anti-conservative presidential aspirant in their party’s history, he will suddenly get religion and embrace their agenda."
"They believe that a 70-year-old megalomaniac, whose entire life has been devoted to ceaselessly promoting himself, and using any means to tear down others, would suddenly develop deep empathy for the party, though so far, he has used it solely as a vehicle for his own personal advancement," he added.
Zakaria railed at the party's most influential voices for remaining silent on Trump.
"Not one former secretary of state, defense or treasury has signed on or publicly announced that he or she will not vote for the man,” Zakaria said.
"Where are George Shultz, James Baker, Condoleezza Rice and Hank Paulson? Can their reputations survive their silence?”
He also called out Arizona Sen. John McCain for backing Trump — despite his slam at McCain's military service and bravery as a prisoner of war.
"McCain has lived a life of service, with acts of courage that are beyond my comprehension," Zakaria said. "When the North Vietnamese offered to release him in advance of other prisoners of war, because his father was an admiral, he refused, preferring more captivity and torture to losing his honor. Years later, when he learned that Henry Kissinger had also refused to allow any special treatment for him, he thanked Kissinger 'for saving my reputation, my honor, my life, really.'
"Today, all John McCain needs to do to preserve his honor is to say two words, Never Trump."
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