Dan Rather On Donald Trump: ‘A Force To Be Reckoned With’

Like it or not, Donald Trump is leading the GOP pack in the race to the White House – and news legend Dan Rather says Trump is a star.

Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush spoke with Rather, who has been covering presidential politics since Eisenhower and anchored the “CBS Evening News” for 24 years, about how the media should be handling the real estate mogul and reality TV star.

“I’d be giving him the maximum coverage. American politics, Presidential politics, is in no small way, theatre and Donald Trump is a center star. Whether you like him or dislike him or have no opinion, he’s a center star. He is a force to be reckoned with right now,” Rather said.

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Rather contends that Trump – who is currently leading all other GOP candidates by large margins – could endure the arduous primary process longer that pundits are predicting.

“[The] question is whether he’ll flame out or whether he can go quite deep into the Republican primary,” Rather continued. “I think he may be stronger, longer than many in the press are now estimating.”

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The news legend told Billy that one key to Trump’s success is his channeling of a Hollywood legend as he pounds the political pavement.

“He’s playing the part of Clark Gable in ‘Gone with the Wind,’ with his attitude [of], ‘Frankly my dear, I do not give a damn.’ And that’s what gives him his strength,” Rather said. “There’s fear, there’s resentment and Donald Trump is expressing it.”

As for Trump’s headline-making comments about Sen. John McCain’s Vietnam War service, Rather doesn’t see Trump apologizing anytime soon.

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“You can bet there are people around him saying, ‘Donald you need to at least consider giving an abject apology,'” he told Billy. “You’re more likely to see water run uphill than you are to see that happen.”

Looking back on his legendary career in news, which has included covering Presidential politics since the 1950s, Rather said this race is unlike any other.

“There’s never been a primary in either party, [that’s] anything like this one,” Rather added.

— Jesse Spero