Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk will not support Hillary Clinton for president, but he won’t be supporting his party’s presumed nominee either.
“I do not support Hillary Clinton,” the Republican said on Chicago’s WLS-AM 890 on Thursday, according to audio first posted by BuzzFeed, “and I told the public that I did not support Donald Trump, either. I think he’s too bigoted and racist for the Land of Lincoln.”
Kirk, who is one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans facing re-election this fall, will write in former CIA Director David Petraeus instead.
“I think if he announced, he would just light up the political spectrum,” Kirk explained.
Last week, Kirk said Trump “does not have the temperament” to be president and that he “cannot and will not” support the presumed GOP nominee.
In his statement, which came in the wake of Trump’s attacks on Judge Gonzalo Curiel, Kirk joined Sens. Ben Sasse, Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee as Senate Republicans not supporting Trump.
“As the presidential campaign progressed, I was hoping the rhetoric would tone down and reflect a campaign that was inclusive, thoughtful and principled,” Kirk said in his statement last week. “While I oppose the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump’s latest statements, in contest with past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party’s nominee for president regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party.”
