Pat McCrory in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 29, 2016 (CLS Digital Arts/Shutterstock.com)
North Carolina former Republican Gov. and Donald Trump supporter Pat McCrory says he is dreading what’s going to come out of Trump’s mouth at his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
“We've got to get back to statesman like behavior, and I'm scared to death of tomorrow night — Tuesday night — both of what's going to be said at the podium and what the reaction is going to be, because it's everything that goes against my instincts of why I got into public service,” McCrory told MS NOW anchor Katy Tur.
McCrory, who supported Trump during his campaign, said Trump’s rhetoric has become too vicious, which spurs ferocity from his critics on the other side of the political spectrum.
“When I was on the campaign trail as governor with president elect Trump, or candidate Trump, I never wore a MAGA hat because I never knew what it meant. … And we still use the term MAGA without understanding what it is. Just like I was suddenly called a RINO (Republican in Name Only) and I still don't know what a RINO is, but it's the terms flung out there so easily. And this name calling and immaturity on both sides of the aisle is just got to end," McCrory said.
McCrory admitted additional anguish at the way the Republican Party has flipped its position on countless topics that once defined it.
“I don't want to give up on my party, even though I think the party is just flip flopped on about every issue,” McCrory told Tur. “The Republicans [used to be] against tariffs. Just five years ago, the Club for Growth was giving millions of dollars to the Freedom Caucus to get them elected, and the Freedom Caucus was against all tariffs. And now all of a sudden, the Republican Party is the pro tariff party. And the Democratic Party is the anti-tariff party.”
“It used to be the Democrats said the federal government needs to step in. Republicans said ‘let's leave it to the state and local level.’ They have completely flip flopped without admitting it, by the way,” McCrory continued. “So I don't even know what the definition of MAGA is, or RINO or the Democratic and Republican Party anymore. I don't think there is any clear definition of even the term ‘conservative’ or ‘Republican’ or ‘Democrat’ or ‘progressive’ anymore because they're flip flopping on issues based upon one word. And that is ‘power,’ because that's what they're interested in.”