taking the off-ramp...
Sen. Mark Kirk withdraws support for Trump
Lynn Sweet
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mark Kirk R-Ill., facing a big challenge from Rep. Tammy Duckworth D-Ill., said Tuesday he will not support presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump after earlier saying he will back him.
” I cannot and will not support my party’s nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party,” Kirk said in a statement.Kirk’s campaign issued the statement after coming under heavy attack from Duckworth and her allies over Trump, with the pressure growing after Trump blasted a federal judge hearing Trump University fraud cases because he was the son of Mexican immigrants.
Kirk’s full statement:
“I have spent my life building bridges and tearing down barriers–not building walls. That’s why I find Donald Trump’s belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American.
As the Presidential campaign progressed, I was hoping the rhetoric would tone down and reflect a campaign that was inclusive, thoughtful and principled. While I oppose the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump’s latest statements, in context with past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party’s nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party.
It is absolutely essential that we are guided by a commander-in-chief with a responsible and proper temperament, discretion and judgment. Our President must be fit to command the most powerful military the world has ever seen, including an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons. After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world.”
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