Just days after trashing New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez at a rally in Albuquerque, Donald Trump now says he respects her and is asking for her support.
“I’d like to have it,” Trump told The Santa Fe New Mexican in a story posted late Thursday. “I respect her. I have always liked her.”
It’s an about face from just last week, when Trump stood in front of his supporters in New Mexico and attacked her for not appearing on stage with him.
“Hey! Maybe I’ll run for governor of New Mexico. I’ll get this place going. … She’s not doing the job. We’ve got to get her going. Come on — let’s go, governor,” he said last Tuesday.
Trump also brought up Martinez allowing Syrian refugees to settle in New Mexico, saying, “Syrian refugees are being relocated in large numbers to New Mexico. If I was governor, that wouldn’t be happening.” Factcheck.org found that New Mexico has welcomed 10 Syrian refugees out of 4,421 processed in the U.S. since Martinez became governor in 2011.
The new nice words about Martinez come after a week of pressure from Republican leaders concerned that the attack on the Republican governor only emphasized Trump’s critical weaknesses among Hispanics and women — voting blocs he must do better with if Republicans hope to win the White House.
Beyond being perhaps the most prominent Hispanic Republican, Martinez also chairs the Republican Governors Association and is a favorite among establishment Republicans Trump has been trying to woo.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — one of the earliest supporters of Trump after he became the presumptive nominee — told CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday that Trump’s fight with Martinez is an example of a broader problem that could alienate Latinos for decades.
“I think the attacks that he’s routinely engaged in, for example, going after Susana Martinez, the Republican governor of New Mexico, the chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association, I think, was a big mistake,” McConnell said.
Martinez spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment from The New Mexican Thursday evening. A Trump spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment Friday morning.