Miserly billionaire Donald Trump’s flirtations with a presidential run has been validated by a surprising array of big name conservatives, from RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to Sarah Palin. But it’s clear that many establishment Republicans are not happy with Trump’s obsession with President Obama birth certificate, though few have been willing to say so publicly. But on CNN this morning, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) did not mince words, calling Trump unserious and saying he was not the GOP’s best candidate for 2012:
HOST: Would you support a Donald Trump candidacy, especially with all of this birther talk?
CANTOR: No, I don’t think he is really serious when we see his campaign launched on the birther issue.
HOST: Yeah, but don’t you get nervous? I mean, you want to defeat the president in 2012, you want a Republican to take over the White House, and is Donald Trump your best hope right now?
CANOTOR: No, I don’t think so.
Watch it:
Last night on CNN, potential presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty brushed off a question about whether he would share a ticket with Trump, but White House hopefuls Mike Huckabee and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) have both indicated they’re open to the idea. For his part, front-runner Mitt Romney dismissed Trump’s birther talk this week on CNBC, saying Obama’s citizenship issue has long been settled.