A long-time friend of Donald Trump says he thinks the president-elect will serve as a kind and unifying leader.
“His first objective right now is to build a bridge to this divide,” businessman Tom Barrack told host Erin Burnett on CNN’s “OutFront” late Wednesday.
{mosads}“Reach out to the other side, unite this country and then create an agenda, so all these things that people are afraid of — what wall is he going to build, he’s going to build a wall of understanding,” added Barrack, who is also a fundraiser for Trump. “This is America, you can’t be a dictator.”
Barrack added Trump would soften his tone from the blunt, combative rhetoric he used on the campaign trail.
“What’s happening is you’re moving from candidate Trump to President Trump, and I analogize it to candidate Trump was like a UFC fighter in the middle of the Octagon and he was a martial artist using every tool that he could to convey a message,” he said.
“And I think last night you saw the real Donald Trump: humbled, kind, compassionate, with a simple agenda — and the agenda is to heal the divide.”
Trump repeatedly promised he would build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border if voters elected him president.
The billionaire defeated Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election, stunning observers.
Thousands of anti-Trump protesters began demonstrating late Wednesday and into early Thursday, with unrest erupting in multiple cities across the country.