Subject: Daily Mail: Phil Robertson endorsed Trump
From: "Sarge, Matthew" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 14:48:22 -0700

h/t Dillon

EXCLUSIVE: 'Duck Dynasty' patriarch Phil Robertson says he'll back Donald Trump despite endorsing Ted Cruz in January: 'I'll be enthusiastically behind him'<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3573234/Duck-Dynasty-patriarch-Phil-Robertson-says-ll-Donald-Trump-despite-endorsing-Ted-Cruz-January-ll-enthusiastically-him.html#ixzz48IAHTJGc>

'Duck Dynasty' patriarch Phil Robertson will support Donald Trump in the fall despite endorsing his rival Ted Cruz four months ago, he said Monday.

The reality TV star told DailyMail.com that 'I'll be enthusiastically behind him.'

'Wow! Such a great honor to have Phil's endorsement,' the Republican front-runner responded Tuesday.

'His son, Willie, has become a great friend of my son, Don. What a great family.'

Robertson's son Willie, now the CEO of Phil's 'Duck Commander' company, crossed his father in January to endorse Trump early on in the Republican primary process.

Willie has appeared alongside the billionaire Republican front-runner at campaign events including one recent post-election rally at Trump Tower.

'It could have been worse,' Phil told Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity of his son's choice at the time.

Wow! Such a great honor to have Phil's endorsement. His son, Willie, has become a great friend of my son, Don. What a great family.

 'He could've said, "Dad, I'm going with Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders" ... Then we would have had some worries.'

Now eccentric father will join eccentric son aboard the Trump train.

'I'll be loyal to the Republican Party,' Robertson said during an interview about 'Torchbearer,' a documentary film project that will receive a screening for distributors next week on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival.

The long-bearded hunting enthusiast said his evangelical Christian stripe made him feel 'safer' with Cruz.

'I went for Cruz because I knew that he was a strict constitutionalist, and I know that he does vet his thinking through the Bible like I do, and so I thought "Hey, I can identify with this cat",' he said.

'It was a way to share the good news of Jesus with people when I spoke on his behalf.'

'But now he's out. Trump's in. So I'll vote for him, no question.'

He told DailyMail.com that his decision stems equally from his respect for Trump and his unwillingness to support any Democrat in the fall.

'I look at the other side and have watched the last eight years. And I just have to go with someone within the Republican Party,' he said.

But he still has some lingering questions about the real estate tycoon.

'I look at the alternative, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders - and then honestly I look at Trump and say, "What kind of leader is Trump going to be?" No one really knows. It will just sort itself out.'

'But they're putting him in there against Hillary Clinton - and it looks like it's going to be her - so I'll definitely be there for him.'

Robertson said he hopes Trump hasn't been pandering to evangelical voters, arguing that the U.S. would be better off with a morally 'conscientious' leader in the White House.

'My thinking is a little different from most people's. I don't think it's a political fix we need,' he said. 'It's a spiritual fix.'

'You look at all these inner cities across the country. It is all so sinful and we're weighted down by our sins, and our politicians are just a reflection of us. It's not going well.'

'We've pretty well run God out of the entertainment business, and run God out of our universities,' he complained. 'And we've run God out of the news media.'

'And Washington, D.C. could use a dose of Him themselves, know what I mean?'