​Does Ed Schafer endorse Donald Trump?

As Republicans formally nominate their candidate for President this week at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, with North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple reading the delegate count for the state with gubernatorial candidate Doug Burgum at his side, we sought to catch up with a Republican leader who doesn’t always endorse what his fellow members of the GOP establishment do.

Former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer was the only former or current statewide elected leader to back Burgum for Governor, which foretold what other Republican leaders didn’t see, dissatisfaction with the status quo in Bismarck.

Before his time as interim President of UND, Schafer also spent time as Secretary of Agriculture under President George W. Bush and was a confidant of Bush’s. You may have noticed how former Bush Administration officials haven’t exactly been flocking towards endorsing Donald Trump for President -- some of them have even endorsed Hillary Clinton.

So what are Schafer’s thoughts on Trump? Read on for our HPR interview, where he sprinkles criticism with praise for the GOP candidate.

High Plains Reader: Are you supporting Donald Trump for President?

Ed Schafer: Well, it sounds like he was nominated today. Since I am a Republican, not only do I have an obligation to vote and help choose the leaders of our country, I am going to support the Republican nominee.

HPR: So up until this point, had you had some reservations about Trump?

ES: First of all, you have to recognize that among many candidates and competitors, Donald Trump won the nomination. Sometimes I don’t particularly like the way he says things and I don’t like some of his ideas but what he’s talking about are real Republican values which is standing up for our country or as he calls it “make America great again.” I think it’s important to note that lesser government, more responsible government, more efficient government, those are what people are asking for. They are asking for a safe country. They are asking to put America first, in the world and at home. Those are things that people are responding to and that’s what Donald Trump is standing for, so I can see why people are responding to him. I think those are Republican values and those are something that I can vote for. Given the fact that Nancy and I worked with Bill and Hillary Clinton for eight years when we were in the state capitol and they were in the White House, knowing Hillary Clinton and her countenance and her less than nice personality, I realized that if you didn’t vote for a Republican nominee, i.e. Donald Trump, it would be voting for Hillary and I have no interest in seeing Hillary as the next President of the United States.

HPR: Aside from Jeb Bush losing the GOP nomination, which may account for family members, why do you think some of your former colleagues in the Bush Administration have been so reluctant to get behind Trump for President, particularly on the foreign policy end of things?

ES: I think when you look at Donald Trump and his experience and background, it’s similar to Barack Obama’s in that they have no foreign relations experience, no working with other countries, no making trade deals. Donald Trump talks about [how] all these trade deals are messing up the United States and are one-sided, this and that. Well, North Dakota exports [and] 50% of our products head out overseas. Those trade deals that we have are important for our state, and making those blanket statements that we’re going to make America great again doesn’t really give you the honest facts and efforts about our relationships as a nation with other nations in the world. So I think people are worried about well, geez, what does that mean, is he going to start a war? He’s quick on the trigger. Well, the reality is he’s shown in his business acumen the ability to surround himself with a good team, with good people. I have every confidence in the fact that he would put star power in our foreign relation admin officials, staff positions and that we’ve had lots of Presidents that haven’t any foreign experience and I think Donald Trump is one. So especially in that foreign relations efforts, people are just nervous, they don’t know who he is and what might happen.

HPR: Some of it might have to do with Trump’s rhetoric, and concern about how that would affect dealing with foreign leaders on the Presidential level. That rhetoric is part of his appeal for the average American, but when you are dealing in foreign policy, you can’t insult foreign leaders and not expect there to be some sort of consequence.

ES: I think that’s definitely one of the issues that people are looking at Donald Trump and saying he’s abrasive, he says things that don’t come across real well to others, etcetera. The reality is that you don’t sit down with foreign countries and negotiate a business deal. He’s a big negotiator, he wants to negotiate what’s right, obviously he’s been very successful with that. But you are not negotiating a golf course in Saudi Arabia. You are negotiating foreign interests and often foreign interests are different. You might have a dictator that doesn’t particularly care for the United States, that has different political and economic interests than just striking some kind of a deal. You might have an elected leader someplace that has different interests. It isn’t economic. It’s relationships with other countries who are allies or it might be in some cases political survival even. You just can’t negotiate your way out of these deals when people don’t have economic interests but have other interests including political.

HPR: Do you think Trump can beat Hillary? I know that was the fear of some Republicans, that he wasn’t the best candidate to win.

ES: I think out of all the candidates we saw on the Republican side, he’s the only one that can beat Hillary. The Clinton political machine is incredibly hard, is incredibly strong and it’s incredibly nasty. Donald Trump as Republican nominee is gonna fight back. He’s not going to fold. He’s not going to say oh boy, they are being mean to me, they are saying nasty things or they are trying to get away with stuff and just kind of poo pooing, saying everybody does it, that’s not a problem. He’s not going to let them get away with that. I think the fact that he’s pushing back, that he’s attacking the Clinton team and the Clinton machine on certain issues...he’s not taking any guff from them. He’s the only one that I can see that is going to stand up to them and have a chance to win. Because to win this Presidency, you are going to have to overcome an incredibly difficult and hard and experienced and talented political machine and I think he’s the one to do it.

HPR: What about the fact that he’s running an unconventional campaign, not running television ads right now, which all Presidential campaigns do, doesn’t have seasoned political operatives. Some people said that’s why there were so many problems on night one of the convention, because he doesn’t have people around him who have done this before, and he keeps his circle tight without political veterans who know how to do this stuff. Do you think he can win with an unconventional campaign that doesn’t do things like you are supposed to do?

ES: I find it interesting that those who say those who say he’s running an unconventional campaign, who think they know, are Republicans who’ve lost campaigns and are saying he should do this and he should do that. Here’s the reality: he’s running a campaign that’s winning. He got more votes in the Republican primaries than any other presidential candidate in history. He’s gotten more people at his rallies, more people engaged in the political process, more people signing up as Republicans than ever before, because he’s got this certain message; and whether he’s doing it right or wrong, obviously, by some political insiders and pundits, they say oh he should do it this way, he should it do it that way. The reality is the way he’s doing it is winning and that’s the most important thing.