Former Vice President Dan Quayle says Donald Trump is the man to beat in the Republican presidential primary and that he could possibly be the nominee.
"Well the race has got to narrow, the sooner, the better," Quayle, who served under President George H.W. Bush, said on AM970's Cats Roundtable on Sunday. "I never tell anybody specifically to get out of the race or when to get out, but eventually it's gonna come down to three or four candidates, and eventually probably two or three, and then there'll be the final two."
Quayle said that by March the field would probably only have two or three candidates left.
"But if you look at it today, Donald Trump's the man to beat," said Quayle. "He's got a lead and it's not a lead that's temporary. He's had this lead for four months. And I don't think people probably know this but he's been interested in office for a long time."
Quayle said Trump let George H.W. Bush know that he was interested in being his vice presidential pick during the 1988 election. That year, Trump eventually endorsed Bush and appeared at the Republican nominating convention.
"I think Republicans and others got to realize that he's gonna be there for a long time. He could possibly be the nominee, I don't know, front-runners have a time, or a proclivity, to evaporate once the votes are taken," Quayle said. "We'll just have to see what happens this time. It will be a competitive race."
"You've got Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, he's had his challenges. And there's always Jeb Bush that everyone knows is extraordinarily qualified to be president. Did a wonderful job as governor of the state of Florida, whether he can make a comeback we'll have to wait and see," Quayle, who is a supporter of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said.