Following a big win in the South Carolina GOP presidential primary on Saturday, Donald Trump was gracious in victory on the Sunday shows, even saying his now former rival Jeb Bush might have won four years ago.
Asked on CNN's "State of the Union" http://www.cnn.com/shows/state-of-the-union whether the vote was a rejection of the Bush family legacy, Trump said, "I hope not because it shouldn't be."
"Jeb fought very hard. It wasn't his time. That's all," Trump said. "He's a very capable person."
Perhaps Bush could have won if he had run four years ago instead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Trump suggested.
"Mitt and him, it would have been a good contest," Trump said. "But this was not really his time."
A kinder, gentler Trump had nice words for all his opponents, saying that while it now appears to be a three-man race between himself, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, all the remaining candidates are talented and the race is a "long way from being won."
He rejected the idea he is "unstoppable," saying, "I'm dealing with very talented people. … Certainly, nobody's unstoppable."
Trump was asked on "Fox News Sunday" http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday-chris-wallace/ if he should now tone down his rhetoric and act more presidential.
"Well, probably I do," Trump said. "I can act as presidential as anybody that's ever been president, other than the great Abraham Lincoln."
But with 17 original candidates, Trump said he was being hit from all sides and was "fighting for my life."
Trump disagreed with Cruz's statement Saturday night that he is the only Republican who can beat Trump.
"No, it's not right, but he's very talented," Trump said. "And certainly he could beat me, and so could Marco and so could the others that are running. You know, crazier things happen in the world of politics."
Though he said he still isn't a shoo-in, Trump said he doesn't expect a brokered convention, pointing to his wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina as his second-place finish in Iowa where he finished with one less delegate than Cruz.
"I think most of the smart people are saying there's not going to be a convention," Trump said. "Interestingly, the one who is say there's going to be a convention, usually they are the pundits that have been wrong forever."
Trump said as GOP nominee he will be able to bring in Democrats, minorities and younger voters.
"If I win New York, the election's over, OK, from an electoral college standpoint," he said. "I have a chance of winning New York. I'll win states that aren't in play. I'll win states that the Republicans don't even think of. And one of them that comes to mind is Michigan. And another one is New York. Upstate New York. I'm like, the most popular person that's ever lived virtually in upstate New York."
Trump said a quote from Thursday's CNN town hall where he sounded as though he favors a health insurance mandate was a result of cross-talk between himself and moderator Anderson Cooper and that he does not favor requiring people to buy health insurance. He simply wants to make sure people who can't afford insurance are covered, he said.
Trump told Fox News host Chris Wallace he intends to participate in a March 3 debate hosted by Fox News Channel. He skipped January's debate after clashing with co-moderator Megyn Kelly in August, and some speculated it cost him a first-place finish in Iowa.
Asked by Wallace if he is involved in a "hostile takeover of the Republican Party," Trump said no, but he said the establishment wing of the party doesn't know how to win elections anymore.
"I get along with the Republicans. There's nothing hostile about it," he said. "I was a Republican establishment figure, then the day I decided to run I became an outsider."
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