Donald Trump got the endorsement of the only remaining Republican member of Congress to vote against the Iraq War on Saturday.
Rep. John Duncan, a Tennessee Republican, “enthusiastically” endorsed the GOP front-runner, in a statement released by Trump’s campaign. Duncan, who has served in the House since 1988, is one of seven Republicans in both the House and Senate who voted against going to war in Iraq in 2002. The other six, five in the House and one in the Senate, have retired or lost re-election bids.
Trump’s campaign has characterized the conflict as a “disaster,” and has blamed former President George W. Bush — who still remains relatively popular among Republicans — for lying about there being weapons of mass destruction in the Middle Eastern country.
“With only four percent of the world’s population, we buy 25 percent of the world’s goods. Every country wants into our markets. We have tremendous leverage on trade we have not used. Donald Trump will do that,” Duncan said in the press release. “With 58 percent of the people in this world having to get by on less than $4.00 a day, hundreds of millions want to come here. Our economy and infrastructure could not handle all these people, and this means our immigration laws must be enforced. Donald Trump will do that.”
“Finally,” Duncan added,” almost all Americans now believe it has been a horrible mistake to spend trillions fighting no-win wars in the Middle East. We must start rebuilding our own country. Donald Trump will do that.”
“For all these reasons, I enthusiastically endorse Donald Trump for president,” he said. Trump expressed his gratitude to Duncan for his support, describing him as “one of the most fiscally conservative members of the House.”
“If more members voted like Rep. Duncan, we wouldn’t be wasting trillions of the taxpayer dollars in foreign countries,” Trump said.
