Conservative commentator Ben Stein on Wednesday said that he would not vote for GOP front-runner Donald Trump and even highlighted Democratic candidates that he liked.
“I went to law school with Mrs. (Hillary) Clinton, so I’ve always had a kind of fondness for her,” said Stein, a former speechwriter for Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, told CNN’s Carol Costello.
Stein, whose career also includes stints as an attorney, actor and game show host, said Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ proposed universal health care proposal was well-intentioned. Stein recalled writing a memo in the Nixon administration advocating similar goals.
On the 2016 White House race Stein said he “would like to see it to be a Republican. I’ve never voted for a Democrat, but Mr. Trump I think is dangerously misinformed. I like him, but he’s dangerously misinformed,” Stein said.
Stein did defend Trump over the recent firestorm that ensued after not initially disavowing the Ku Klux Klan’s support. Trump’s response to the incident is being mischaracterized by GOP presidential rival Marco Rubio.
“I love Marco Rubio, but I think he’s really hanging an albatross around Mr. Trump’s neck that doesn’t deserve to be there. Mr. Trump definitely did disavow the Ku Klux Klan and to say otherwise is simply not true.”
Still, Stein seemed to leaning toward backing the Florida senator.
“If I could just snap my fingers and have anyone, it would be Marco Rubio,” Stein said. “But I think he’s been a little bit disingenuous lately.”
Stein also said that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s endorsement of Trump — the highest GOP establishment figure to do so — would lead the Republican party down the wrong path. The results could rival GOP nominee Barry Goldwater’s epic defeat in 1964 at the hands of President Lyndon Johnson.
“I think he made a mistake getting on the Trump bandwagon,” he said. “And I just hope that bandwagon does not drag the whole party out to sea and sink us like the Goldwater bandwagon did when I was a young man. I don’t want to see that happen again to the Republican Party, but I’m afraid that’s what’s coming down the road.”
