Trump: I wanted Bush impeached
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/10/15/trump1.jpg caption="Trump says that Bush got the US into a war with Iraq using lies."]
(CNN) - Business mogul Donald Trump told CNN Wednesday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should have sought to impeach President Bush when she had the chance.
In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Trump said the president and his administration deliberately lied about the Iraq war, and congressional Democrats missed an opportunity to impeach him when the party took control of Congress in 2006.
Watch the full interview on The Situation Room at 4 and 6 p.m. ET.
"I was surprised that she didn't do more in terms of Bush and going after Bush," Trump said. "It was almost - it just seemed like she was going to really look to impeach Bush and get him out of office, which personally I think would have been a wonderful thing."
Pressed why he feels Bush deserved the punishment faced by only two other commanders-in-chief, Trump said the president misled the country in the run-up to the Iraq war, and that his actions were considerably more objectionable than those which led to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton.
"He lied. He got us into the war with lies," Trump said. And I mean - look at the trouble Bill Clinton got into with something that was totally unimportant. And they tried to impeach him, which was nonsense. And yet Bush got us into this horrible war with lies, by lying, by saying they had weapons of mass destruction, by saying all sorts of things that turned out not to be true."
In the wide-ranging interview set to air on CNN's The Situation Room at 4 and 6 p.m. Wednesday, Trump also praised John McCain and said the Arizona senator still has a chance to win the White House despite recent polls showing he is substantially trailing Barack Obama.
Watch: I'd hire McCain, says Trump
"He's a very smart guy, he's a tough guy," he said. "I think he'd be a great president. But, he has to be John McCain and he could still probably pull it out. But, it's going to be tough."
Trump also advised the Republican presidential nominee to stay positive at Wednesday's final presidential debate and communicate clear plans to fix the nation's financial crisis.
"He has to come up with plans and not political plans, real plans. And they have to be very, very economy-based," Trump said. " I think the economy seems to be weighing down everything."
Trump praised Republican VP Sarah Palin, whom he first met Tuesday night at a New York fundraiser, and said he would trust her to run the economy.
"I can only go by the people of Alaska," she said. "She's got the highest rating in the whole Unites States, as being the most popular governor."
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Only the uber rich think McCain and Palin are right for this country. They want to make sure their pockets continue to get full, while the rest of us can't buy a loaf of bread. We can't afford another 8 yrs of this crap!
That's awesome! I suddenly love Donald Trump!
Ain't that the truth? I can't believe everyone just looks the other way when this idiot (our president) makes ridiculous decisions that will impact the country and countless Americans for generations (wage a war in the wrong country killing thousands, not pursue/capture bin Ladin, allow the economy to crash w/o regulating Wall Street, allow the subprime mortgage mess to continue until it takes the country down with it). What does he have to do to get impeached?? These idiots went after Clinton for perjuring himself in court and Bush can trash the entire country w/o repercussions?? Incredible.
When Palin loses this election, she can go to work for Trump, since he thinks she is so great! I wonder how long she would last actually working for him????
Man in the street interviews are useless enough, but they're better than man in the suite interviews.
CNN spends waaay too much air time and waaay too many words on rich right-wing blowhards like Trump, T. Boone Pickens, etc. They're great at making money, but their political opinions are more about self-interest than the interests of the country.
Why has "Ticker" completely ignored the ACORN issue? Why has "Ticker"completely ignored Obamas socialist comments to the plumber in Ohio? Why is "Ticker" completely devoted to positive stories of Obama? Perhaps we should start putting a (D) or (R) after the name of the writer.
Trump's opinion is an opinion that really matters and most people don't care.
this should have been done years ago, finally someone with some weight is proposing it.
amen, to that.
Donald, you trust Palin? YOU'RE FIRED.