On Thursday, a group of 30 former GOP lawmakers sent an open letter to Republicans urging them to reject their presidential candidate at the polls on November 8, stating that he lacks the “intelligence” and “temperament” to be president of the United States.
According to The Hill, more than half of the lawmakers who signed are voicing their opposition to Donald Trump for the first time, though many of them have been vocal detractors from the start. (They add their voices to a group of 50 GOP national security experts and 70 other top Republicans who have done the same.) Here’s an excerpt from the current batch of GOP members who can’t stomach the thought of President Trump:
“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. 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. Donald Trump fails on each of those measures, and he has proven himself manifestly unqualified to be president.”
The Republicans who signed the letter are: Steve Bartlett (Texas), Bob Bauman (Md.), Sherwood Boehlert (N.Y.), Jack Buechner (Mo.), Tom Campbell (Calif.), Bill Clinger (Penn.), Tom Coleman (Mo.), Geoff Davis (Ky.), Mickey Edwards (Okla.), Harris Fawell (Ill.), Ed Foreman (Texas and N.M.), Amo Houghton, Jr. (N.Y.), Gordon Humphrey (N.H.), Bob Inglis (S.C.), Jim Kolbe (Ariz.), Steve Kuykendall (Calif.), Jim Leach (Iowa), Pete McCloskey (Calif.), Connie Morella (Md.), Mike Parker (Miss.), Tom Petri (Wis.), John Porter (Ill.), Claudine Schneider (R.I.), John “Joe” Schwarz (Mich.), Chris Shays (Conn.), Peter Smith (Vt.), and Edward Weber (Ohio)
(Via The Hill)