If he wants to win the election, he would do well to not let his political enemies badger him into going back on what he has said so many times in the past, because they are still going to call him a terrorist sympathizer and Jew-hater regardless. He’s not actually winning any favors by doing this, just encouraging his enemies to keep on with this cheap badgering, and showing his supporters that he is willing to bend to such a thing.

Is that “optics”? I guess so, but I think it’s deeply myopic to just categorically reject something because it can be described that way, as though something only matters to his campaign/administration/career if it’s a policy proposal.