GOP congressman endorses Clinton

Obama asks when others will come to senses over ‘unacceptable’ Trump

WASHINGTON — A first Republican lawmaker has emerged to declare his intention to vote for Hillary Clinton, against his party’s own nominee whom he calls a shameless and hate-pandering narcissist unfit to lead the U.S.

Now Democrats are asking: Where are the other Republicans?

U.S. President Barack Obama dove into the issue when asked about Donald Trump’s multiday spat with relatives of a deceased soldier who accused him of Muslim-bashing.

The president replied that the Republican nominee keeps proving he’s unfit for the White House. Then he turned his sights on other Republicans.

“If you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?” Obama told a news conference Tuesday, standing beside the prime minister of Singapore.

“This isn’t a situation where you have an epi-

sodic gaffe (from Trump). This is daily and weekly where they are distancing themselves from statements he’s making. There has to be a point in which you say, ‘This is not somebody I can support for president of the United States, even if he purports to be a member of my party.’

“These denunciations (eventually) ring hollow . ... There has to come a point at which you say, ‘Somebody who makes those kinds of statements doesn’t have the judgment, the temperament, the understanding, to occupy the most powerful position in the world because a lot of people depend on the White House getting stuff right.”

He said his differences with Trump aren’t like those with his opponents Mitt Romney or John McCain — with whom he had philosophical disagreements on things like tax rates and foreign policy. He said at least those rivals were bound by rules of common decency and basic sense.

Yet the political dilemma for Republicans was plain to see Tuesday. Trump delivered a political bodycheck to two famous Republicans who’ve been slightly critical of him: McCain and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump refused to endorse them in their upcoming primaries. He even publicly lauded Ryan’s opponent, thanking him for his unequivocal support.

But only one elected federal Republican has declared he’ll be voting Democrat. That lone lawmaker is uniquely placed to do so. Richard Hanna is a popular third-term congressman who won his last election by almost 50 per cent; he’s in a swing district in New York that split its votes in the last presidential election; and, perhaps most importantly, he’s not running again.

“Months ago I publicly said I could never support Trump. My reasons were simple and personal. I found him profoundly offensive and narcissistic but as much as anything, a world-class panderer, anything but a leader,” Hanna wrote. “I never expect to agree (completely) with whoever is president, but at a minimum the president needs to consistently display those qualities I have preached to my two children: kindness, honesty, dignity, compassion and respect ...

“While I disagree with her on many issues, I will vote for Mrs. Clinton . ... I trust she can lead.”