Thirty former Republican members of Congress have come out against Donald Trump, and said in a scathing letter that they will not vote for their party’s presidential nominee.
The group includes several individuals who have already announced their opposition to Trump, such as former New Hampshire Sen. Gordon Humphrey and former Minnesota Rep. Vin Weber, but also includes more than a dozen people opposing Trump publicly for the first time.
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“Our party’s nominee this year is a man who makes a mockery of the principles and values we have cherished and which we sought to represent in Congress,” the group said in a statement on Thursday.
“Given the enormous power of the office, every candidate for president must be judged rigorously in assessing whether he or she has the competence, intelligence, knowledge, understanding, empathy, judgment and temperament necessary to keep America on a safe and steady course,” the letter reads.
“Donald Trump fails on each of those measures, and he has proven himself manifestly unqualified to be president.”
Former Oklahoma Rep. Mickey Edwards and former Missouri Rep. Tom Coleman spearheaded the effort.
“In nominating Donald Trump, the Republican Party has asked the people of the United States to entrust their future to a man who insults women, mocks the handicapped, urges that dissent be met with violence, seeks to impose religious tests for entry into the United States and applies a de facto ethnicity test to judges,” the group said.
“He offends our allies and praises dictators. His public statements are peppered with lies. He belittles our heroes and insults the parents of men who have died serving our country. Every day brings a fresh revelation that highlights the unacceptable danger in electing him to lead our nation.”
A few former swing-state lawmakers also signed onto the letter, including Reps. Bill Clinger, R-Penn., Jim Leach, R-Iowa, G. William Whitehurst, R-Va., and a close friend of Speaker Paul Ryan, Tom Petri of Wisconsin.
Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., who once chaired the House Science and Technology Committee, and Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., the second openly gay Republican in Congress, were also signatories.
“We are proud of our service in the United States Congress and proud that we served in that role as Republicans,” the letter concludes.
“It is in that spirit that, as Donald Trump’s unfitness for public office has become ever more apparent, we urge our fellow Republicans not to vote for this man whose disgraceful candidacy is indefensible. This is no longer about our party; it’s now about America. We may differ on how we will cast our ballots in November but none of us will vote for Donald Trump.”
