WASHINGTON — Dr. Phil McGraw told PJM he is “confident” presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) “will find some sort of alignment of causes” at their meeting on Capitol Hill.
McGraw was asked if there has to be a “Dr. Phil intervention” in the Trump and Ryan relationship. Ryan has said he is not ready to endorse Trump for president. In response, Trump said he is not ready to support Ryan’s agenda.
“Well, somebody is going to have to bring some kind of peace somewhere to that party because it’s certainly fragmented at this point. Look, you’ve got a lot of intelligent people that are going to have to find some kind of common ground. I am confident that they’re going to find some sort of alignment of causes where they can say ‘look, we may not see eye-to-eye on everything,’ but hopefully they can find some way where their positions are aligned enough that they can pull in the same direction,” McGraw said following a briefing sponsored by the Congressional Diabetes Caucus.
“I would say the same thing to the Democratic Party as far as Sanders and Clinton that I would say to Trump and Ryan. Hopefully both sides can come up with some type of an agenda they can find alignment on so we can get on with this election and get on with the business of running the country,” he added.
McGraw, who said he has known Trump for a long time, was asked what Trump has to do to gain his support.
“Well, I don’t take political positions at this point because publicly if I used my influence in one area to influence people in another area that just wouldn’t be right, so I kind of keep my opinions to myself,” he said.
McGraw was in Washington to moderate a panel discussion about diabetes as part of his “ON IT” initiative.
After the event, McGraw shot down the idea of creating government regulations for the amount of sugar allowed in drinks.
“They’re going to get their hands on what they want, when they want it, so this is something that requires a lifestyle change, and it’s not something I think you are going to be able to legislate. I think people are going to make a decision to make a commitment to change the way they’re living. They’re going to have to replace habits with better habits and this is something that is going to take a decision on their part that’s going to change in a lifestyle way,” McGraw said.
“It’s not going to be something they can do short term. It’s not going to be some kind of crash they can go on. It’s not going to be something you can take off of the street corner. It’s going to be a lifestyle change. It’s going to have to permeate every aspect of their life. I don’t think you can legislate that kind of thing,” he added.
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