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  GOP Congressman to support Hillary Clinton

GOP Congressman to support Hillary Clinton

REUTERS
Published : Aug 3, 2016, 7:19 am IST
Updated : Aug 3, 2016, 7:19 am IST

A Republican lawmaker in Congress became the first to break with the party and support Democrat Hillary Clinton for the White House on Tuesday amid signs of growing Republican unease with volatile pre

A Republican lawmaker in Congress became the first to break with the party and support Democrat Hillary Clinton for the White House on Tuesday amid signs of growing Republican unease with volatile presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The break by Representative Richard Hanna of New York followed days of uproar over Mr Trump’s criticism of the parents of a Muslim US Army officer killed in the Iraq war, which has fueled a fresh round of Republican rebukes of the New York businessman.

Several congressional Republicans have said they will not support Mr Trump in the November 8 election against Ms Clinton, but Mr Hanna was the first to take the extra step of endorsing the Democrat.

Citing Mr Trump’s attacks on the Khans, Mr Hanna called him “deeply flawed in endless ways,” “unrepentant” and “self-involved.”

“For me, it is not enough to simply denounce his comments: He is unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country,” Mr Hanna wrote in a letter posted on syracuse.com, the website of the Post-Standard newspaper in New York.

Mr Hanna is retiring from the House and is not seeking re-election, leaving him more leeway to risk upsetting colleagues and voters over his break with Mr Trump.

“While I disagree with her on many issues, I will vote for Mrs Clinton. I will be hopeful and resolute in my belief that being a good American who loves his country is far more important than parties or winning and losing,” he wrote.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, one of the most outspoken critics of Mr Trump in the US Congress, said he would never join Mr Hanna in voting for Ms Clinton. “Conservatives should reform the party of Lincoln, not surrender to the Clinton’s machine’s dishonesty and identity politics,” Mr Sasse said in an emailed statement.

Location: United States, Washington