Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos actually managed a conservative question on Wednesday, hitting Donald Trump on his vast history of supporting liberal causes, candidates and beliefs. Yet, one issue the host skipped is Trump's support for the Clinton Foundation. That's probably because Stephanopoulos secretly donated $75,000 to the organization.
Talking to the candidate, Stephanopoulos highlighted, "One of the things that could come up tomorrow night is in the past you've had a lot of positions that seem to be aligned with the Democrats on health care, pro-choice on abortion." He continued, reminding that the New Yorker was previously opposed to the Second Amendment and "used to describe yourself as socially quite liberal."
Stephanopoulos wondered, "If that charge comes up tomorrow night that you're a flip-flopper, how do you respond?"
Of course, the anchor and former operative to Bill Clinton, did not point out that Trump also gave $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Considering that Stephanopoulos took a lot of heat for quietly donating close to that amount, it probably wasn't a topic the host wanted to discuss.
In June, the journalist asked Trump about Clinton's e-mail scandal and the reality TV star retorted, "Of course, you shouldn't be talking to me about that, in all fairness. You shouldn't be asking me those questions, but I don't mind."
Trump, who has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to liberal Democrats, responded to Stephanopoulos's question by comparing himself to Ronald Reagan.
A transcript of the August 5 GMA segment, which aired at 7:08 am ET, follows:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Joining us now by phone, Donald Trump. He is live this morning. Mr. Trump, thanks for joining us this morning. We just heard Jon Karl say your two big attackers are out but you're leading all the polls. Jeb Bush calls you the front-runner. Does that mean you're the target tomorrow night and what are you going to do about it?
DONALD TRUMP: Well, I probably am the target and I was very honored to see that two men who really attacked me very viciously, and I only attacked back after they started. But they went down stub substantially. In fact, Lindsey Graham went down to zero. So, the voters were fantastic, as far as I'm concerned. But they did certainly go down.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Jeb Bush said you're preying on people's fear and angst. That's what he suggested yesterday. Is that what you're doing and what's your response to Mr. Bush?
TRUMP: Well, no, not at all. I mean, our country is in trouble. Politicians have driven us into the ground. They don't know what they're doing. They're certainly good at getting elected and after they get elected, they don't do anything. I say they're all talk and no action. It's time that we do something about it. We want to make America great again. That's my theme. Make America great again and the word again is a very important word because now we're second to China. We're going down further. We're 25th in the world in education. You look at education, we have third world nations that do better than we do and yet we spend far more per student than any other country in the world which is going down in so many ways. I was proud to bring up the illegal immigration and I took a lot of heat the first week and now everybody is saying I was right and they're apologizing to me and it's become a major point, which I'm very proud of. It's a disaster for our country.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Jeb Bush also said there that he still believes, though, that people are crossing the border out of acts of love.
TRUMP: Well, when you talk about acts of love, that's the problem we have. You know, crossing the border, acts of love. Kate, beautiful Kate in San Francisco was killed by somebody that came over five times. Jamiel, wonderful young man killed maybe going to Stanford, great football player, great parents. I met his father, such a great man. He was shot to death point-blank. So many, I mean, this is just -- so many and, you know, I've brought that issue to the forefront and I'm so proud of it because it is a huge problem. Not to mention the crime coming across, the drugs coming across. And when the drugs come across, George, the money goes back into Mexico. So, we have a problem.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You've been raising a lot of issues for a long time. And one of the things that could come up tomorrow night is in the past you've had a lot of positions that seem to be aligned with the Democrats on health care, pro-choice on abortion. Pro-gun control. Used to describe yourself as socially quite liberal. If that charge comes up tomorrow night that you're a flip-flopper, how do you respond?
TRUMP: You know, I have no problem with it. I've evolved like a lot of other people. Ronald Reagan evolved. Ronald Reagan was a Democrat and became a Republican. He was sort of a liberal guy, actually, as a younger man and became a Republican and he did very well. I have great respect for him. I helped him. I knew him. He liked me and I liked him. So, you know, we evolve. I think everybody on that stage has changed position on different things. But I've always been very tough on some very important issues and issues like, as an example, the border, the military, the vets. Nobody is going to take care of the vets like I am. You know, the politicians, you mentioned McCain, the politicians in Washington have let the vets down. They've never had longer waits than they had as of last Wednesday. They measured it last Wednesday. The waits for the vets waiting for doctors is the longest that they've ever had. I will take care of our vets and I will take care of our military. We will be so strong that people will not mess with us.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Just about out of time. What's a win tomorrow night?
TRUMP: Well, I don't know. I can't answer the question. I don't want to attack anybody and, you know, maybe I'll be attacked and maybe not. I'd rather just discuss the issues. But, you know, certainly I don't want to attack. If I'm attacked I have to, you know, do something back but I'd like it to be very civil.
