Television personality Montel Williams said Wednesday that it would be insanity to bet against Donald Trump winning the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2016.
“If anybody doesn’t think he’s going to get the nomination, you’re crazy,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
{mosads}“If he steps off and does this by himself, he will actually be the spoiler in this campaign,” Williams said, referencing Trump’s threat to run as a third-party candidate.
Williams said pundits keep predicting that Trump will flame out despite his soaring poll numbers, and they’ve so far been wrong.
“So we can keep playing like in a couple months this is going to change,” he added. “It’s not.
“He’s galvanized a group of people who … don’t have college degrees [and] they normally don’t vote. What happens when they all turn up?”
Williams said the former “Celebrity Apprentice” host success will inevitably lead to more reality TV stars jumping into the political circus.
“It’s going to stay there as long as we let it happen,” he added of Trump. “This is the beginning. Trump is the first. Watch what happens next election.”
Williams, a former Marine, criticized Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. earlier this week.
“We currently have 5,000-plus Muslim soldiers on active duty serving this nation,” he said.
“How dare we disparage a person who wants to step up to the plate and defend the democracy that someone claims they want to be president of?” Williams asked. “It’s driving me crazy.
“I’m glad that some of the other candidates stepped up yesterday and had a little bit of intestinal fortitude, but they’re not going far enough,” the former talk-show host added.
Trump proposed a temporary freeze on admitting the Islamic faithful to the U.S. late Monday amid concerns over jihadist terrorism.
The other Republican White House hopefuls have resoundingly condemned his suggestion, as have GOP leaders in Congress.