GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Sunday he would support his chief rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, if he gets the nomination instead — but there was a qualifier.
Trump has been one of the loudest voices pointing out that Cruz may not be allowed to serve as president because he was born in Canada. Trump repeated that point on
"Face the Nation" when asked about possible support for Cruz.
Trump has said Cruz should get a declaratory judgment from a federal court on the issue since several Democrats have vowed to sue if Cruz becomes the Republican nominee.
But if the courts do rule in Cruz's favor, Trump said he would be willing to back him.
"Yeah, if he got the nomination, if everything was fine I would vote for Ted Cruz," he said.
Cruz and others, including National Review magazine, have accused Trump of not even being a consistent conservative. Trump has said his views have evolved over the years, just like Ronald Reagan's did.
When asked by "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson to define conservative, Trump said, "I think it's a person that doesn't want to take overly risks. … A person that wants to, in terms of government I'm talking about, a person that wants to conserve."
A conservative wants to balance budgets and "feels strongly about the military," he said.
Trump said he meets that definition on all counts.
As for his National Review critics, Trump said, "I don't even know who most of them are. I don't want to know who most of them are. They are just people that are, I guess, trying to save a magazine that is close to closing up."
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