Former Gov. John Sununu (R-N.H.) said Friday that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump crossed a line by comparing rival Ben Carson to child molesters.
“Look, that whole rant in Iowa is the reason we should not have a reality show star as president of the United States,” he said of Trump’s prolonged diatribe against Carson the night before.
“I’m not a great fan of Ben Carson’s, but [Trump’s] attack was irrational, it was rude, it was crude and frankly, politically speaking, it was dumb,” Sununu told host Alisyn Camerota on CNN’s “New Day.”
“It applies equally to the fact that every strategy that Mr. Trump puts on the table is dependent on hot rhetoric to get the emotional reaction from voters but has no rationality or substance behind it in terms of being able to be implemented.”
Sununu next criticized Trump’s calls for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants during the billionaire’s campaign event in Fort Dodge, Iowa Thursday evening.
“The ‘Trump force’ is a farce,” he said, referencing Trump’s oft-promised “deportation force.” “There is no way he would ever get legal authority to do that kind of stuff.
“Trump’s claim that we’re only talking about [immigration] because of his involvement is ridiculous,” Sununu added. “It was an issue in 2012 during the [Mitt] Romney campaign. It was going to be an issue in this campaign anyways.”
Trump suggested Thursday evening that Carson’s past struggles with his violent temper share similarities with the urges of child molesters.
“It’s in the book that he’s got a pathological temper,” he said on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” referencing Carson’s memoir “Gifted Hands.”
“That’s a big problem because you don’t cure that,” Trump said. “As an example: child molesting. You don’t cure these people. You don’t cure these people. There’s no cure for it. Pathological, there’s no cure for it.”
Carson has frequently described his impoverished youth in Detroit as one of aggression and conflict. He has recounted incidents where he attempted stabbing his friend and threatening his mother with a hammer.
The retired neurosurgeon has credited his staunch Seventh-day Adventist faith as the cure for his persistent rage.
Trump’s attack against Carson comes as both men are deadlocked in the race for next year’s GOP presidential nomination.
Less than a single point separates the pair from first place, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.