Sen. Mike Lee reminded everyone Tuesday that he has not yet endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
“I have not endorsed Mr. Trump,” the Utah Republican said on MSNBC. “I’m still looking for a presidential candidate who will embrace the constitutional reform agenda.”
Lee, a powerful and vocal conservative in the Senate, had previously endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Lee has upped his criticism of the presumed GOP nominee in recent weeks. Earlier this month for example, Lee said Trump “scares me to death.”
When asked if he is looking at another candidate to possibly upend Trump at the Republican National Convention next month, Lee said Tuesday that it seems “very unlikely at this point.”
“What Mr. Trump could do is embrace some of the principles of federalism, of separation of powers,” Lee said. Trump could “reinvigorate the Constitution. The same movement that has made the Broadway musical Hamilton wildly popular. The same movement, and the same play that helped same [Alexander] Hamilton’s image on the $10 bill really could come into play in this presidential election.”
Lee said if Trump were to embrace the Constitution, more Republicans would start to “rally more aggressively” behind Trump.
When asked if he may skip voting for Trump like former presidential candidate Jeb Bush, Lee said that doing that is “an option for everyone,” but not necessarily for him.
“I’m still hopeful that our nominee, whether its the presumptive nominee or someone else, will take and embrace this message,” Lee explained.
Lee also declined to say who he thinks will win the presidential election in November. “It’s really difficult to predict at this point because we are so far away from that moment,” Lee said. “We have yet to see the interplay between the Democratic nominee and the Republican nominee.”
