GOP sheds cautious approach to Trump _ but he may not care

FILE - In this July 11, 2015, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at FreedomFest in Las Vegas. Trump criticized Sen. John McCain's military record at a conservative forum Saturday, saying the party's 2008 nominee and former prisoner of war was a "war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." McCain spent 20 years in the Navy, a quarter of it in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp after his jet was shot down over Hanoi during a bombing mission Oct. 26, 1967. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) FILE - In this July 11, 2015, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at FreedomFest in Las Vegas. Trump criticized Sen. John McCain's military record at a conservative forum Saturday, saying the party's 2008 nominee and former prisoner of war was a "war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured." McCain spent 20 years in the Navy, a quarter of it in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp after his jet was shot down over Hanoi during a bombing mission Oct. 26, 1967. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

By Associated Press July 20, 2015 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Seeking to blunt Donald Trump’s summer surge, Republican White House hopefuls are shedding their cautious approach to the provocative businessman’s political rise.

But Trump simply may not care.

Trump has refused to apologize for disparaging comments he made about Sen. John McCain’s military service and brushed off rivals who say he’s shown he doesn’t merit the presidency. He’s also sought to use the furor over his remarks to remind supporters, especially those frustrated with Washington, that he’s not a typical politician.

During a conservative forum in Iowa Saturday, Trump dismissed McCain’s reputation as a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam, saying “I like people who weren’t captured.” His rivals spent much of the weekend condemning his comments and suggesting he was unfit to serve as commander-in-chief.