Fiorina: Trump ‘a gift-wrapped present’ for Clinton

Carly Fiorina said Tuesday that fellow Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump would give the White House to Democrats if he wins the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination.

“Here’s what I absolutely know: Hillary Clinton thinks Donald Trump is a gift-wrapped present under the tree,” she said, according to The Des Moines Register.

{mosads}“If Donald Trump is the nominee of this party, she will wipe the floor with him,” Fiorina continued.

“We will also lose the Senate and we may well lose the House,” she added. “She would be very happy — very happy — to face Donald Trump.”

Fiorina argued that Trump’s stream of controversial remarks would poison the well for Republicans next year.

“Donald Trump, for example, has been saying we’re going to use a religious test and ban people from coming into this country,” Fiorina told listeners at the American Enterprise Group in Des Moines, Iowa, the newspaper reported.

“It’s a violation of our Constitution, but it also undermines the character of our nation,” the former Hewlett-Packard CEO added. “We stand for religious liberty.”

Fiorina also charged that Trump suggested banning Muslims because his poll numbers are falling in Iowa.

“I think Donald Trump’s comments this morning had as much to do with Ted Cruz doing well in the last week as anything else,” she said.

“Donald Trump needed the spotlight back,” Fiorina added. “So this is what he said, and everybody’s paying attention.”  

Texas Sen. Cruz surged past Trump in Iowa for the first time on Monday, according to a Monmouth University survey that showed Cruz with a 5-point lead over the real estate tycoon.

Trump remains the front-runner for the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination, however. He has a 15-point lead over Cruz, his closest competition, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.