(Audio above: GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is interviewed by host Cliff Sims on Yellowhammer Radio)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — On Friday’s edition of Yellowhammer Radio, host Cliff Sims interviewed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in anticipation of the business mogul’s massive campaign rally in Mobile Friday evening.
Before the interview, Sims fielded ideas for questions from his listeners. Many in the Yellowhammer Radio audience requested Trump be asked about his beliefs on abortion and the 2nd Amendment, specifically so-called “assault weapon” bans.
Check out the questions Sims chose, as well as Trump’s answers in the audio above.
For his first question, Sims asked Trump whether or not he would name Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as his Attorney General should he win the election.
“He’s a great guy, and while it’s a little early in the process, I’d like to get there first, and I have to get there,” Trump answered, falling short of saying he would name Sessions AG. “Alabama is lucky to have [Senator Sessions], and he’s lucky to have Alabama, but frankly, when I was getting very very serious on this immigration thing, because as you know it’s out of control, I took tremendous abuse that first couple of weeks when I hit the border hard. What’s happening at the border is a disgrace.”
“I’ve always watched Senator Sessions, he’s always seemed to have a good take on it, and by no means a radical kind of a guy. He’s a highly respected Senator, really respected by everybody. We called him and he really gave us a lot of help on the border and on what we did.”
Saying he is very pro-life, Trump said he had been softer on social issues in the past because he is a businessman who needed to work with all types of people.
Trump, in what has become known as his trademark non-politically correct style, said if he becomes President he will use the word “Christmas” as much as possible.
“There’s an assault on anything having to do with Christianity,” he said. “They don’t want to use the word Christmas anymore at department stores.”
“There’s always lawsuits and unfortunately a lot of those lawsuits are won by the other side,” Trump continued. “I will assault that. I will go so strongly against so many of the things, when they take away the word Christmas.”
“I go out of my way to use the word Christmas,” he quipped.
Trump then said he is a Christian, “somebody that believes very strongly in the Bible, believes in God.”
“I’m protestant,” he said. “I’m Presbyterian to be exact. And I grew up in Sunday school, and I did all of the things that you probably did. And I believe very, very strongly. I’m a big believer in the Bible.”
“I’m not sure numbers of times going to church,” Trump admitted. “I go as often as I can. As you can imagine, I have a schedule that’s not like a normal person’s schedule. My schedule is a killer. But I go as often as possible.”
Next, Sims asked Trump about how he would defend the 2nd Amendment, particularly in light of his history of advocating for assault weapons bans.
“Times have changed a lot,” Trump explained. “When you look at what’s going on, we need [guns] for protection. A lot of the assault weapons, people use for recreation; like I go and play golf, they go and do other things. The answer is, no I’m a very very big into the 2nd Amendment.”
“So you definitely not want to roll back so-called assault weapons,” Sims pressed.
“No, I’m not going to,” Trump confirmed.
Mr. Trump’s campaign event in Mobile was originally scheduled to take place in the city’s 2,000-capacity conference center, but had to be moved to the historic Ladd-Peebles Stadium after an unexpectedly-large response.
Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Attendees must have a printed ticket to enter the stadium. Tickets are available for free on EventBrite.
According to a poll released last week, Trump is currently lapping the rest of the Republican field in Alabama.
The real estate mogul and reality TV star has the support of 30 percent of likely Republican primary voters. Jeb Bush sits in second with 15 percent, followed by Ben Carson and Marco Rubio at 11 percent a piece. Mike Huckabee and Carly Fiorina are at 8 percent. Ted Cruz is just behind at 7 percent. And Scott Walker, who will also be in the state later this week, currently enjoys support from 3 percent of the primary electorate.
The survey of 3,500 likely Republican primary voters was taken on August 11 and has a margin of error of 2 percent.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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