Dan Quayle: Trump’s a ‘winner’

Dan Quayle on Thursday said he would support Donald Trump should the billionaire ultimately become the GOP’s presidential nominee.

“I was the Republican vice president,” Quayle said on NBC’s “Today.” “I’ve been a Republican all my life. I’m going to support the nominee.

{mosads}“He’s a winner,” he said. “He knocked off 16 Republican candidates. He’s going to be the nominee; he’s the presumptive nominee. 

“I predict that most people in my position, or people that have been around the Republican Party for a long time, will rally around the nominee,” he added.

Quayle said Trump would eventually mend fences with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Trump and Ryan are scheduled to meet in Washington on Thursday.

“I fully expect that Paul Ryan will eventually support Donald Trump publicly,” he said. “I hope that happens, because we do have to be unified. If we’re not unified then we have a real lot of trouble, I’d say.”

Quayle, who served under former President George H.W. Bush, added Trump is more qualified to serve in the Oval Office than Hillary Clinton.

“On paper, you would say, ‘She’s more qualified,’ ” he said of the Democratic presidential front-runner.

“He’s more qualified in the sense that the American people want an outsider. They want an outsider this time. She’s not an outsider, so if you’re looking for an outsider, no, she’s not qualified and he is.”