Trump On Pat Buchanan In 1999: He's "Beyond Far Right" Only Gets "Wacko Vote"

"I think he's beyond far right, and, then, on other issues he's just all over the place," Trump told Larry King of Buchanan.

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Donald Trump, in an appearance on Larry King Live in 1999 when he was exploring a presidential run on the Reform Party ticket, criticized his potential opponent Pat Buchanan for being "beyond far right" and only appealing to the "wacko vote."

Earlier this year, Buchanan praised Trump on CNN, saying, "Trump has raised the very issues I raised in the early nineties."

Buchanan's 2000 platform was identical to Trump's in a number of ways. Buchanan was a protectionist on trade, used harsh rhetoric on immigration, wanted to limit donor influence in politics, and spoke loudly against Washington corruption.

Here's the transcript from Trump's 1999 appearance on Larry King Live:

KING: Would you debate him?

TRUMP: Yes, I would debate him, I would debate him, if it was appropriate.

KING: What would be a major issue? Hitler is going to be an issue.

TRUMP: I think it is personality. I think he's a very -- you know, it's almost gotten to a point where I'm not even so sure he's far right, I think he's beyond far right, and, then, on other issues he's just all over the place. I don't think he'll get any votes.

Look, Pat Buchanan will get a certain number of votes, just to sort of correct, but that's it. He's not going to win anything.

Now, if the Reform Party wants to nominate somebody that's going to get five or six percent of the wacko vote, they can do that, and they'll get five or six percent, but they're not going to win the election. Pat Buchanan is not winning the election.

I'll tell you what Buchanan will do, Bush will lose the election if Pat Buchanan becomes the Reform Party candidate. Bradley or Gore, in my opinion, will become the next president because almost all of those votes are going to come from the Republican Party.

Now, the people that would vote for Buchanan, probably their second choice would be Bush. So all they're doing is losing a vote for Bush, and he'll probably lose the election.

But I think that the Republicans have seen in their own polls, that if Buchanan gets the Reform Party nomination, not that Buchanan does anything great, but he takes all of the votes away from the Republicans.

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