When Donald Trump officially takes office as president, he’ll do so with the support of a former Bush staffer who says that the incoming commander in chief is the greatest negotiator in history.
Phillip Stutts, a GOP strategist and University of Alabama alum, said that Trump has created a “paradigm shift” in politics. Despite some concern over the president-elect’s proclivity for Twitter, Stutts believes that Trump could be setting himself up for a pattern of historic deal making.
“Donald Trump starts everything from a negotiation position. Everything he does is about having the upper-hand in negotiation. That’s what he knows how to do. That’s what he’s doing,” Stutts said during an appearance on MSNBC. “He’s doing is showing his unpredictability so that he can negotiate and have a better standing on whatever position he wants, so I take him for it. I think that he’s the best negotiator that ever lived.”
“I wasn’t always for him. I get it now, I see it. And one day the Democrats will as well,” he added.
During his appearance, Stutts also chimed in on the latest controversy between Georgia Congressman John Lewis and President-Elect Trump. After Rep. Lewis attacked Trump by calling him an “illegitimate” president, the GOP strategist reminded panelists of the Democrat Congressman’s record of attacks against former Republican presidential hopefuls.
“John Lewis is absolutely a hero, I don’t doubt that. But in 2008 he compared John McCain to George Wallace. He said that if Mitt Romney were elected that we’d go back to segregation. He once claimed that Tea Party activists called him the n-word, it was proven later that it was an absolute lie,” Stutts said. “Now he’s saying that [Trump] is not a legitimate president, and he’s fundraising off of it. So Trump has a right to defend himself.”
Check out Stutts’ full appearance on MSNBC below.
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