CLEVELAND – Radio host and 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain told PJM he is open to serving in preemptive GOP nominee Donald Trump’s cabinet and that the anti-Trump voices at the GOP convention are losing sight of the goal to defeat the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Cain lamented the actions of some anti-Trump delegates who protested the convention rules on Monday.
“There was a big flap on the floor but that flap isn’t going anywhere and hopefully they will get over it, get a good night’s sleep and start coming together so we can win this thing – because they are losing sight of the ultimate, biggest goal to defeat Hillary Clinton,” Cain told PJM on Monday night in the Quicken Loans Arena at the Republican Convention.
Trump has taken a strong stance against illegal immigration. PJM asked Cain how Trump should respond to Clinton’s message of inclusion and diversity in immigration policy.
“Let Hillary keep telling that lie because that’s exactly what it is. The American people are smarter than the Democrats give them credit for. I get calls all the time. They understand that’s not a racist statement to say we need to protect our borders,” Cain said.
“It’s not a racist statement that we need to know more about the people coming here before we let them here. The Democrats are playing the voters for fools. Now maybe some of the Democrats are going to drink the fool-aid but independents and conservatives, the Republicans, they are not going to drink the fool-aid,” he added.
Cain applauded parts of Trump’s tax plan such as lowering the corporate tax rate and capital gains tax rate.
However, Cain said he would like to see a 100 percent write-off for “any capital” an owner spends for his or her business.
“He’s got to tweak the numbers to make sure he can make up that kind of revenue and understand how coming out of the box he’s just working on lowering the rates, but they’re going to have to work some more on the depreciation part of that whole plan,” he said.
Cain told PJM he is “open to serving in his cabinet” if Trump asks him.
“I’m not going to cry if he doesn’t ask me. In fact, I am going to be wrestling with ‘do I take a cut in pay?’ I don’t know if I can handle that. I have a happy life. I have a good life. I love what I am doing but for the good of country, depending on what it is, obviously it’s something you would have to consider.”
Cain said he’s had multiple conversations with Trump and offered him some advice.
“You can afford to have multiple lawsuits I couldn’t. Be prepared, because they are going to throw everything including the kitchen sink at you and they have and it has not worked,” he said.
Cain also said the overall feel of the convention is different compared to previous years.
“The feeling is different. You know what that feeling is? The voice of the people – that’s what makes it different. You don’t have an Ivy Leaguer up there giving you some scripted rhetoric that you don’t understand what it is. You’ve got a guy talking from the heart,” he said.
“The motto of this convention is your vote your voice, your voice your vote – that’s the difference that some of the establishment people are missing. But I’ve got to tell you, the American people are not missing it – that’s why Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee.”
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