Republicans about Trump

[Admin]

9 prominent Republicans are backing Donald Trump — here's what they used to say about him

• Maxwell Tani
  
  
• 4h
  

If Sen. Marco Rubio is concerned about Donald Trump's readiness to assume control of the US nuclear codes, he's not willing to talk about it anymore.

In a Tuesday CNN interview, Trump's former presidential rival stood by his criticisms of the mogul. But he maintained that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was a positive alternative to Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

"I'm not going to sit here right now and become his chief critic over the next six months, because he deserves the opportunity to go forward and make his argument and try to win," Rubio said.

Indeed, Rubio is far from the only candidate to awkwardly reverse course on negative statements about the inflammatory presidential candidate. Former Trump rivals such as Sen. Rand Paul, former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, among others, have found themselves walking back strongly worded criticisms of Trump.

Trump on Thursday will be trying to swing another prominent Republican who has yet to support the magnate — House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Here are 9 prominent Republican politicians who have reversed course on Trump:

Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal

In a September op-ed for CNN, then Republican presidential candidate Jindal described Trump as "a shallow, unserious, substance-free, narcissistic egomaniac."

"We can decide to win, or we can be the biggest fools in history and put our faith not in our principles, but in an egomaniac who has no principles," Jindal wrote.

But following Trump's victory in the Republican presidential primary, Jindal offered a very tepid endorsement of the real-estate magnate.

"I think electing Donald Trump would be the second-worst thing we could do this November, better only than electing Hillary Clinton to serve as the third term for the Obama administration's radical policies," Jindal wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry

During his short-lived 2016 presidential bid, Perry called Trump a "cancer on conservatism" and criticized his inflammatory rhetoric about Mexican immigrants.

"Demeaning people of Hispanic heritage is not just ignorant. It betrays the example of Christ," Perry said in his September concession speech. "We can enforce our laws and our borders, and we can love all who live within our borders, without betraying our values."

But after Sen. Ted Cruz dropped out of the race last week, Perry quickly endorsed the presumptive nominee.

"He is not a perfect man," Perry told CNN. "But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them."

Sen. Rand Paul

Last month, Paul said he would support Trump in a likely matchup between Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

But in the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses, the former presidential candidate wasn't as fond of Trump, comparing him to infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

"Donald Trump is a delusional narcissist and an orange-faced windbag," Paul said on Comedy Central.

He added: "A speck of dirt is more qualified to be president."

Sen. Marco Rubio

Toward the end of his 2016 presidential bid, Rubio unleashed a flurry of rhetorical attacks on Trump.

Among other things, the Florida senator criticized Trump'shypocritical immigration policy prescriptions, joked about Trump urinating in his pants at a GOP debate, and questioned whether voters should hand "the nuclear codes of the United States to an erratic individual."

But last month, Rubio began to shift tone. He said he would support any Republican candidate, including Trump, though he ruled out any interest in being Trump's vice president.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley

Haley confirmed last week that she would "respect the will of the people" and would support Trump's candidacy.

Haley's tune was less favorable in February, when she hit the primary campaign trail in her home state for Sen. Marco Rubio, prompting Trump's ire.

"Bless your heart," Haley said, after Trump labeled her an embarrassment.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Christie became the first major former presidential candidate to endorse Trump. But just a few months earlier, he was warning voters about Trump's preparedness for the office.

"We do not need reality TV in the Oval Office right now," Christiesaid in December. "President of the United States is not a place for an entertainer."

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

When Walker dropped out of the presidential race after just three months, the governor called on many of his Republican presidential rivals to do the same in order to consolidate support around a conservative candidate.

The governor took a thinly veiled shot at Trump, criticizing the real-estate mogul's brash rhetorical style.

"It has drifted into personal attacks. In the end, I believe that the voters want to be for something and not against someone," Walker said in his concession speech. "Instead of talking about how bad things are, we want to hear how we can make them better for everyone."

Yet late last month, Walker signaled he'd support the GOP nominee against Clinton — though he refused to say Trump's name.

Sen. Tim Scott

Scott, a former Rubio endorser, said last weekthat he would support the Republican presidential nominee.

Though Scott was not a particularly vocal critic of the real-estate magnate, he did condemn Trump's initial refusal to denounce an endorsement from the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

"Any candidate who cannot immediately condemn a hate group like the KKK does not represent the Republican Party, and will not unite it," Scottwrote in a statement. "If Donald Trump can’t take a stand against the KKK, we cannot trust him to stand up for America against Putin, Iran, or ISIS."

Sen. Thom Tillis

In an interview on Fox Business last year, Tillis, who recently said he would endorse Trump, characterized the former reality-TV star's Republican-debate performance as "more entertainment" than policy. He also criticized the presumptive nominee's rhetoric for inciting violence at campaign rallies.

"He has some responsibility for it," Tillis said of the violence at Trump's rallies.

[Admin]

Not everybody in the party of Lincoln is equally enthusiastic..

What Republicans Really Think About Trump

Nicholas Kristof JULY 21, 2016

CLEVELAND — The arena here at the Republican National Convention echoes with applause for Donald Trump, but the cacophony and extravagant stage effects can’t conceal the chaos in the G.O.P. and in the Trump campaign.

Republican senators suddenly are busy fishing, mowing the lawn or hiking the Grand Canyon; conservative celebrities mostly sent regrets. This vacuum reflects the horror that many leading conservatives feel for their new nominee.

Pundits like me are gnashing our teeth as Trump receives the presidential nomination of the party of Lincoln, but, frankly speaking, we don’t have much credibility in Cleveland since many of us aren’t all that likely to support a Republican nominee in any case.

So instead of again inflicting on you my views of the danger of Trump, let me share what some influential conservatives said about him during the course of the campaign. (Some have since tempered their public sentiments.)

“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.” — Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina

“I don’t think this guy has any more core principles than a Kardashian marriage.” — Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska

“We saw and looked at true hate in the eyes last year in Charleston. I will not stop until we fight a man that chooses not to disavow the K.K.K. That is not a part of our party.” — Nikki Haley, Republican governor of South Carolina

Donald Trump’s Convention: Day 3
Arguments, provocations and observations from Times Opinion writers.

“A moral degenerate.” — Peter Wehner, evangelical Christian commentator who served in last three Republican administrations

“Donald Trump is a madman who must be stopped,” — Bobby Jindal, former Republican governor of Louisiana

“I won’t vote for Donald Trump because of who he isn’t. He isn’t a Republican. He isn’t a conservative. He isn’t a truth teller. ... I also won’t vote for Donald Trump because of who he is. A bigot. A misogynist. A fraud. A bully.” — Norm Coleman, former Republican senator from Minnesota

“To support Trump is to support a bigot. It’s really that simple.” — Stuart Stevens, chief strategist to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign

“Donald Trump is unfit to be president. He is a dishonest demagogue who plays to our worst fears. Trump would take America on a dangerous journey.” — Meg Whitman, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise C.E.O. and former national finance co-chairwoman for Chris Christie’s presidential campaign

“I thought he was an embarrassment to my party; I think he’s an embarrassment to my country. … I can’t vote for him.” — Tom Ridge, former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and secretary of homeland security under George W. Bush

“I would not vote for Trump, clearly. If there is any, any, any other choice, a living, breathing person with a pulse, I would be there.” — Mel Martinez, former Republican senator from Florida and former chairman of the Republican National Committee

“The G.O.P., in putting Trump at the top of the ticket, is endorsing a brand of populism rooted in ignorance, prejudice, fear and isolationism. This troubles me deeply as a Republican, but it troubles me even more as an American. … Never Trump.” — Henry M. Paulson Jr., Treasury secretary under George W. Bush

“Hillary is preferable to Trump, just like malaria is preferable to Ebola. … If it’s Trump-Hillary with no serious third-party option in the fall, as hard as it is for me to believe I am actually writing these words, there is just no question: I’d take a Tums and cast my ballot for Hillary.” — Jamie Weinstein, senior writer, the Daily Caller, a conservative website

“Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.” — Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican nominee for president

“When you’ve got a guy favorably quoting Mussolini, I don’t care what party you’re in, I’m not voting for that guy.” — Ken Cuccinelli, president of the Senate Conservatives Fund

“Donald Trump is a scam. Evangelical voters should back away.” — The Christian Post, a popular U.S. evangelical website

“Listen, Donald Trump is a serial philanderer, and he boasts about it. … The president of the United States talks about how great it is to commit adultery. How proud he is. Describes his battles with venereal disease as his own personal Vietnam.” — Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas

“A man utterly unfit for the position by temperament, values and policy preferences … whose personal record of chicanery and wild rhetoric of bigotry, misogyny and misplaced belligerence are without parallel in the modern history of either major party.” — Eliot A. Cohen, a senior State Department official under George W. Bush

“Leaders don’t need to do research to reject Klan support. #NeverTrump” —Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee

“God bless this man” — Daily Stormer, white supremacist website

[Admin]

Prominent conservatives have said, in an attempt to allay concerns about Trump, that he is solidly conservative on matters like the size of government and reducing the debt; repealing and replacing Obamacare; and defeating ISIS. But none of these claims withstands scrutiny.

Trump has shown no commitment to limited government. He has repeatedly stated he’s against entitlement reform, a basic requirement of those wishing to re-limit and rein in the costs of government. His plan to cut the deficit consists of cutting “waste, fraud and abuse,” the ultimate fiscal dodge. He also said he would “at least double” Hillary Clinton’s plan to spend on infrastructure – at an estimated cost of $500 billion. (Remember, too, that Trump was praising President Obama’s stimulus package in Obama’s first term when virtually every Republican, including Republican members of Congress, was criticizing it.)

As for the debt: Trump has gone from promising to eliminate it in eight years to wanting creditors to accept lower payments than they are owed, to printing more money to stave off default. His tax plan, as currently constructed, would drain trillions from the Treasury. So simply based on what we know, based on what Trump has said, there’s no chance he will reduce the size of government but will rather expand it; and it’s quite likely the debt will grow worse under Trump than it would under Clinton.

Even on executive orders, he has said that he has no qualms about using this power much like Obama has done -- only his will be “better.” As Ian Tuttle put it, “Trump’s dismissiveness toward the Constitution is in excess of anything Barack Obama displayed in 2008 or 2012.”

On repealing and replacing Obamacare: This, too, is a meaningless promise. During this campaign Trump has also spoken favorably about a single-payer health care system. He has praised the Obamacare mandates. He has said he believes in universal health care coverage and that the federal government ought to provide it. Many of his views, then, have been somewhat to the left of Obama’s. (Even Obama has denied he wants a single-payer health care system.)

On ISIS: Trump talks about destroying the Islamic State. But as recently as last fall, when it was territorially at its most dominant, Trump was saying ISIS was not ours to take on – it was “not our fight” – and we should “let Russia fight it.” That is hardly taking the battle to the enemy. Trump now says he would declare war on ISIS, but he would wage it with very few to no troops. Trump’s plan to defeat the Islamic State is purely rhetorical, not real.

The Comprehensive Case Against Donald Trump | RealClearPolitics

[Martin K]

That whole article is a pretty good summary read..

Trump’s cruel and heartless comments have been well documented, including mocking a reporter with a physical disability, the grieving mother of a war hero killed in action and ridiculing John McCain’s POW years. He has also likened Ben Carson’s “pathology” to that of a child molester and engaged in sexist attacks against Megyn Kelly, Carly Fiorina and other women. These qualify as more than “indecorous” and “awkward.” What many Trump supporters are uncomfortable admitting is that while they may not be attracted to his nativism, misogyny and dehumanization of others, they are fully prepared to accept those things and, by constantly mischaracterizing and watering down his comments, defend them.

But set Trump’s rhetorical assaults aside if you want. He is also apathological liar. “The man lies all the time,” according to Thomas Wells, Trump’s former lawyer. Tony Schwartz, the co-writer of “The Art of the Deal,” says that “lying is second nature to him.” The record supports that conclusion.

In addition, corruption has followed Trump his entire career, including his bankruptcies; his refusal to pay contractors who have done work for him; the scams (e.g., Trump University, the Trump Institute and the Trump Network); his history of being charged with housing discrimination/tenant intimidation; his use of hundreds of undocumented Polish workers and much more. (For details, see this story in The Atlantic and this Washington Post story, which concludes “you’d have to work incredibly hard to find a politician who has the kind of history of corruption, double-dealing, and fraud that Donald Trump has.”) Trump is also a crony capitalist, a corrupter of our political system, par excellence.

[Admin]

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who crossed party lines in 2008 to endorse Democratic Barack Obama, has tried to float above this year's tendentious presidential election. So much for that. First the government released his note to Democrat Hillary Clinton advising her on how to use personal email for back-channel communications while secretary of state. Now - in an ironic twist - his personal email has been hacked, revealing sweeping denunciations of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and some sharp criticisms of Democrat Hillary Clinton. Mr Powell is generally well liked by Americans, although some on the left hold him responsible for convincing the US public of the need to invade Iraq in 2003 and others on the right view him as a squishy Rino (Republican in name only).

Colin Powell calls Trump 'national disgrace' in email leak - BBC News

[Admin]

Many Republicans have lamented some aspect of Donald Trump’s campaign. The party’s 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, doesn’t like that Trump is a “fraud.” House Speaker Paul Ryan has objected to Trump’s “textbook” racism. Less exalted members of the party have cringed at his bigotry or flimflam or utter lack of principle.

But almost no Republican office holder or leader has done what veteran Iowa State Senator David Johnson has. In June, he quit the party. No groundswell followed him. Trump’s emergence, Johnson said, “required somebody in elected office as a Republican to reject the party. He’s now the standard-bearer of the party. I can’t be a member of a party where the man who leads the party has this abysmal record in this campaign.”

Johnson is hardly alone in finding Trump “a cancer on conservatism,” as former Texas Governor Rick Perry memorably called him before deciding that maybe cancer wasn't so bad after all and endorsing him.

But no GOP member of Congress has quit the party of Trump, and state office holders are staying put, as well. Johnson’s experience won’t encourage followers. “I’ve been so roughed up by the Republican establishment,” he said. “I’m going to find it very difficult to change my registration back to Republican. Which to me is really a difficult choice.”

An Ex-Republican in Iowa Tells All - Bloomberg View

[Admin]

Quite a few less of them after that 2005 audio with Trump the groper, from Talking Points Memo..

The TPM List: Trumpsters Who Have Abandoned Donald Trump

By LAUREN FOX PublishedOCTOBER 8, 2016, 3:48 PM EDT

The list of Republican lawmakers who are ditching Donald Trump is growing fast since After video surfaced of Donald Trump explicitly describing how he tried to seduce a married woman, kissed women no matter if they wanted to be kissed and grabbed them by the p***y, Republican lawmakers have quickly started distancing themselves from the presidential nominee just a month ahead of the election.

Here is the list of lawmakers who once supported Trump and have backed away since the video came out Friday.

U.S. Senate Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO)
"If Donald Trump wishes to defeat Hillary Clinton, he should do the only thing that will allow us to do so– step aside," Gardner said on Twitter.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
"I can no longer endorse Donald Trump," Crapo said on Twitter. "This is not a decision that I have reached lightly, but his pattern of behavior has left me no choice,” Idaho’s senior senator said. “His repeated actions and comments toward women have been disrespectful, profane and demeaning.”  

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
"I cannot and will not support Donald Trump for president. He has forfeited the right to be our party's nominee," Murkowski in a statement on Twitter..

Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
"I'm calling on Trump to step aside for Gov. Pence. Trump can't lead on critical issue of ending dom violence and sexual assault," Sullivan said on Twitter.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately," Thune said in a statement.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) "I will not vote for Donald Trump," Ayotte said on Twitter. "I wanted to be able to support my party's nominee, chosen by the people because I feel strongly that we need a change in direction," Ayotte said in the statement. "However, I'm a mom and an American first, and I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women."

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE)
"The comments made by Mr. Trump were disgusting and totally unacceptable under any circumstance. It would be wise for him to step aside and allow Mike Pence to serve as our party's nominee," Fischer told the Omaha World-Herald.

U.S. House of Representatives Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV)
"We deserve a candidate that can ask themselves at the end of the day 'did I live my life with honor, and do I deserve to be elected President of the United States?'" Heck said during a rally that was aired live on MSNBC. "I believe our only option is to formally ask Mr. Trump to step down."

Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL)
"Donald Trump's behavior makes him unacceptable as a candidate for president, and I won't vote for him," Roby said in a statement.
Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL) "It is now clear Donald Trump is not fit to be President of the United States and cannot defeat Hillary Clinton. I believe he should step aside and allow Governor Pence to lead the Republican ticket," Byrne said according to a statement posted by a local NBC affiliate.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
“I’m out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine,” Chaffetz said during an interview with Utah’s Fox 13 News Friday.

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-MO)
"As parents of a teenage daughter and teen twin boys, my wife and I teach them to respect women and that they will be judged by their words and actions," Davissaid, in a statement to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO)
"I have committed my short time in Congress to fighting for the most vulnerable in our society. As a strong and vocal advocate for victims of sex trafficking and assault, I must be true to those survivors and myself and condemn the predatory and reprehensible comments of Donald Trump," Wagner said in a statement to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I withdraw my endorsement and call for Governor Pence to take the lead so we can defeat Hillary Clinton."