Cleveland(CNN) Donald Trump "wears the Republican Party like a rented tuxedo," with reckless and divisive rhetoric and proposals that will set the party and conservative movement back by years, says S.E. Cupp, CNN commentator and conservative columnist.
"I don't think he is careful with the conservative movement or the Republican party, but specifically on the issue of religion," Cupp told David Axelrod on "The Axe Files" podcast, produced by CNN and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. "The idea that we would religiously test people coming to this country, or people already in this country, is deeply offensive to me."
Cupp helped draft the "Growth and Opportunity Project," a blueprint for the revival of the GOP commissioned by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in the wake of the 2012 election. The report called for outreach to black and Hispanic Americans, women and the young. "Trump has completely exploded the progress that we had made, and really set us back with a lot of his rhetoric," she said.
"I feel like his policy proposals he's thought about for maybe five minutes. And that sort of temperament is frightening to me as well. But as I've said, I've said this publicly, I feel like he wears the Republican party like a rented tuxedo. And at the end of this adventure it's going to be crumpled in the corner with cigarette butt stains."
Describing herself as an acquaintance of Trump and friend of his children, Cupp said she does not believe the Republican nominee adheres to some of the most provocative positions he's taken.
"The Donald Trump I've known has been a Democrat," she said. "The Donald Trump I know believes in gay marriage. The Donald Trump I know is a very tolerant person. I don't know why he seems to think he needs the white supremacist vote to win this election, and why he doesn't have smart campaign people around him telling him, 'this is not how you're going to win.' But he's fixated on this."
Regardless of the outcome of the election in November, Cupp continued that there is going to be "years of work ... for conservatives" to do to repair the damage.
To hear the whole conversation with Cupp, which also touched on her time as a professional ballet dancer when she was a teenager, her battle with depression and an eating disorder, her views on the conservative movement in the U.S., and much more, click on http://podcast.cnn.com. To get "The Axe Files" podcast every week, subscribe at http://itunes.com/theaxefiles.