He stopped being a private citizen the moment he declared he was a candidate for president. If he is a private citizen why is the Secret Service giving him protection? If you are running for political office you are...by definition...a politician. You may be saying he is not a politician because he keeps making these truly dumb mistakes, shows an embarrassing level of ignorance, and continues to tell lies and walk them back because the media is no longer cutting him the same slack they did during the primaries.