North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, side-stepped most questions on former President Donald Trump in an interview on “CBS Mornings” Thursday.
Burgum didn’t directly answer questions on what he thinks about the former president’s fourth criminal indictment or whether Trump is dangerous for democracy.
“The voters are the ones that are going to decide so what the people think matters, not what the pundits think now,” he said.
But when asked more broadly about trust in government and institutions, he said, “We need leadership that people can trust right now. We’re not seeing that in either party.”
Burgum, who is currently polling at 1% nationally, said his background as a successful entrepreneur and technology executive will help bring fresh perspectives to government operations at a time when some Americans’ distrust institutions.
“If you want to establish trust in an organization, you have to change leadership,” he said. “That’s why I’m running for president, because any business that I’ve ever been involved with, any state, you know, the state that I’m leading now, the citizens respond to the leadership at the top.”
“My whole life has been about building trust with customers and partners,” he said.
The North Dakota governor suggested his campaign is more focused on presenting his own vision and policies to the American public than it is on Trump.
“We’re still in that stage two months in where we got to tell people what we can do,” he said.
Trump remains the GOP favorite five months before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses — and, as CBS News’ Major Garrett reported, reaction from Republican leaders to his latest indictment shows what a hot wire it is to cross him and his supporters.
Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for more features.
