Unconventional: Bob Dole on the state of the Republican Party

Katie Couric
·Global Anchor

By Brian Goldsmith

Former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole told Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric that this year’s GOP nominee, Donald Trump, is a “strong leader” but should “tone down his rhetoric and become an inclusive Republican.”

He lamented that Trump has not apologized to Sen. John McCain for saying, one year ago, that McCain is not a war hero because he was captured. Dole said “he was kept in a little cage, he had arms broken. … He’s a war hero if there ever was one.” Dole added that McCain is “not bitter” and will vote for Trump.

Dole also said that he wants Trump to go to New Mexico to apologize to Republican Gov. Susanna Martinez, because Republicans “need Latinos in the party — we need more women in the party.” Dole said he raised these concerns with Trump on the phone.

Speaking from the Republican convention in Cleveland, Dole said that Trump should “reach out to more people, Reagan Democrats or independents, and unify our party.” The former Senate majority leader, who has been to every Republican convention since 1964, initially endorsed Jeb Bush, who, he said, “just never caught fire,” and then supported Marco Rubio, who worked for his 1996 presidential campaign.

As for the institution where Dole spent four decades (from 1961 to 1996), Dole said he thinks Trump can work with Congress. “I believe he’ll be bipartisan, not some rigid extreme conservative.” One thing he believes voters should understand: Presidential candidates are not going to get much done unless their plans can pass through Congress.

Dole said he believes that “People are angry. … Some may not ever know what they’re angry about” and that while he does not “blame Obama for all of it,” he does believe “We have a mess in the world” and that Trump is a strong leader.

Dole, who turns 93 on Friday, said that he still is working as a lawyer and misses politics every day. Sporting an “I still like Ike” button, he is mounting an effort to build an Eisenhower memorial in Washington, D.C.