Trump: Jim Webb would be ‘wonderful as an independent’

Donald Trump says former Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) should launch an independent bid for the White House now that he has dropped out of the Democratic primary.

“I think he should — I’d love to see him as an independent,” he said on The Boston Herald’s “Morning Meeting” radio broadcast. “He’d be wonderful as an independent.”

{mosads}“He’d be a lot better as an independent than he would as a Democrat, because I watched [the first Democratic presidential debate] the other night and he was not registering as a Democrat,” Trump added of the Oct. 13 contest in Las Vegas.

Webb announced Tuesday that he is suspending his 2016 Democratic presidential bid but said he might still run as an independent instead.

“I’m withdrawing from any consideration of being the Democratic Party’s nominee for the presidency,” he told reporters in Washington.

“This does not reduce in any way my concerns of the challenges facing the country, my belief that I can provide the best leadership in order to meet these challenges or my intentions to remain fully engaged in the debates that are facing us,” Webb said.

Webb has repeatedly bemoaned the high cost of competing for the presidency since launching his campaign earlier this summer. The Boston Herald reported Tuesday that Webb has raised $700,000 since embarking on his White House run last July.

Trump said raising enough money is the biggest obstacle for potential third party candidates such as Webb.

“I hope he has a lot of money, because it’s a very expensive process,” said Trump, who ruled out his own independent run earlier this year after floating it as a possibility.

Webb said he is only considering an independent candidacy because of the country’s political climate.

“Because of the paralysis in our two parties, there is a time where an independent candidacy could conceivably win,” he said.

Webb halted his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination with 1.3 percent support, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.

He has ruled out making any endorsements or aligning with a super-PAC.