During a discussion of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump indicating that he was willing to negotiate over both taxes and the minimum wage, and possibly end up raising taxes on the wealthy, CNN's Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room praised the GOP candidate for having a willingness to compromise, unlike "some very conservative Republican hardliners."
His comment came at about 6:28 p.m. after correspondent Dana Bash recalled Trump's tendency to change positions. She began:
He definitely seems to be somebody who, kind of, as you ask a question, he thinks about it and he was like, "Oh, maybe X and not Y." You know, I'm not saying that these were specifically done on the fly, but it's not unheard of for Donald Trump to change a little bit, sometimes a lot. You know, traditionally, with a traditional candidate -- which Donald Trump has never been accused of being -- you do see the changes from the primary to the general, kind of moving more to the center.
She brought up his recent remarks on the minimum wage and taxes as she added:
That could be what the minimum wage change is and the fact that he ruled it out and now not so much. And the tax issue, which he had said -- actually, I'm still not entirely clear what he's saying -- but he has said, you know, he seems to open the door a little bit to raising taxes on the wealthy, although now he's saying that's not what he meant. Again, that could be a move to the middle, but my sense is it's still him trying to work though the proposals as a first-time candidate.
Blitzer then declared that Trump "does deserve some credit" for a willingness to compromise:
What he does deserve some credit for, Nia, is he says, you know, all of his policy decisions, these are his opening bargaining positions. He knows if he's President he's going to have to negotiate with Democrats in Congress, he wants to come up with something, it may not wind up being perfect the way he would like it. He's willing to negotiate. That's different than some very conservative Republican hardliners who say, "Take it or leave it."
CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson voiced agreement:
That's exactly right. The word "compromise" is essentially a dirty word, and a lot of these folks went into office essentially proposing ideas that never would fly, but certainly are music to the ears of some folks in the conservative electorate.
