Donald Trump may be the leading Republican candidate for president, but Alaska Congressman Don Young is no fan.
At a forum in Juneau Tuesday, Young was asked the Republican candidates for president, specifically “which you can support and which you expect will be the eventual nominee.”
Young said he has long been dissatisfied with the nomination process. He called for more structured debates “so we finally get some idea what they stand for.”
The congressman then launched into a critique of the current race for nearly a minute:
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“I’m not worried about the size of your hand, or your wife’s looks, or these other things. I mean, it’s silliness! And the media loves it. You know? Because they watch it. And we’re dumb enough to watch it.
“And I’m not supporting Donald Trump. I’ve said that publicly. I am supporting Kasich, because I think he’s the smartest one in the bunch. But the people don’t think he has any pizzazz. He happens to have one of the best brains. Got the experience. Knows how to do the job. (But people say) ‘Oh, he’s not exciting enough.’
“Now, who do I blame? The people! A bunch of idiots following a pied piper over the edge of the cliff! That’s who I blame. They ought to know better than that. I mean, nobody wants to read anymore! No one wants to find out the background anymore! And they blame Donald Trump. I blame the people!”
In Alaska, Sen. Ted Cruz narrowly beat Trump to the top spot of the Republican presidential preference poll.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
