Trump to Don Lemon: Yes, I Was a Democrat, Like ‘Everybody’ in NYC

The increasingly nasty battle between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush continued on CNN Tuesday evening when Don Lemon appeared to play excerpts from his new interview with the GOP frontrunner, set to air in full at 10 p.m. ET tonight.

Specifically, Trump responded to a new campaign ad from Bush that highlights his history as a self-described member of the Democratic Party.

“He mentions that I was, at one point, a Democrat,” Trump said of Bush. “Well, in New York City, everybody was a Democrat, practically. If you run for city council, if you run for political office, whoever wins the Democrat primary is automatically — there was almost no election, because the Republicans hardly exist in New York City. Well, that’s where I was.”

Trump went on to compare himself to Ronald Reagan, who also identified as a Democrat before morphing into the conservative Republican president he ultimately became.

“At one point, I was a Democrat,” Trump said. “And over the years, as Ronald Reagan changed, I also changed. I became much more conservative. I also became a Republican.”

During the era about which Trump is referring, New York City had a Republican mayor in Rudy Giuliani and subsequently elected another Republican mayor in Michael Bloomberg (before he became in Independent), meaning the city must have had at least a few Republican voters. As of April 2011, the city’s voter rolls were reportedly 11.3% Republican.

Watch video below, via CNN:

[Photo via screengrab]

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