With Donald Trump now set to become the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential nominee, some GOPers are abandoning ship. But for Republican politicians who have previously pledged to support whoever the GOP candidate ends up being, breaking with their party to renounce Trump’s unconventional candidacy isn’t so simple.
One example of that difficulty can be found in the fine line Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) is trying to walk. Before Trump’s decisive victory on Tuesday in Indiana, Ayotte, who is battling New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) to retain her Senate seat, pledged “to support the Republican nominee,” with the caveat that she “would like to see how the process plays out.”
Tuesday night, Hassan’s campaign released a statement calling on Ayotte to make her position on Trump clear:
Kelly Ayotte has repeatedly said that she’ll put her political party first by supporting Donald Trump if he is the nominee, and now it is time for Ayotte to just do what she’s been preparing to do for weeks and make her support for Trump official. Ayotte and Trump are clearly in agreement when it comes to critical issues such as their desire to defund Planned Parenthood, undermine Roe v. Wade, and obstruct the Supreme Court confirmation process. And all Granite Staters should be concerned that Ayotte has pledged to support Trump as the nominee, even though national security experts and members of both parties have condemned his foreign policy positions as dangerous to our country’s vital interests.
On Wednesday, Ayotte signaled that she indeed intends to fulfill her promise. However, according to a WMUR report, a spokesman for her added that “as a candidate herself,” she’s not planning to endorse Trump. Precisely what that means isn’t clear, but it sounds somewhat akin to the old adage about trying to have your cake and eat it too.
A Yahoo political reporter tweeted that he heard from a Republican operative who thinks Ayotte’s jumbled position could pose problems for her:
GOP operative texts me: "Ayotte just lost her race. Not sure what idiots are advising her."
— Jon Ward (@jonward11) May 4, 2016
Meanwhile, another embattled incumbent Republican senator, North Carolina’s Richard Burr, is embracing Trump.
1/3: I always said I would support the nominee and it's clear @realDonaldTrump has won the #Republican Presidential Primary.
— Richard Burr (@BurrForSenate) May 4, 2016
2/3: I look forward to working with Mr. Trump at the top of the ticket and to maintaining a #GOP Senate.
— Richard Burr (@BurrForSenate) May 4, 2016
3/3: There will not be a third term for a Clinton/Obama Administration in the White House. #NeverHillary
— Richard Burr (@BurrForSenate) May 4, 2016
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), who’s being challenged by Democrat Russ Feingold for his seat, is also taking the embrace-Trump approach.
From a WQOW report published Wednesday:
Sen. Johnson said he is endorsing Donald Trump. He believed Trump’s nomination affirms that voters are not looking for a typical politician, which Johnson thinks will help Trump do well in the general election.
“They are literally looking for outsiders like myself, and let’s face it, you don’t get much more of an outsider than me. Never having been involved in elected politics at all, having that private sector experience, understanding how to grow a business and as a result having the elements to grow our economy,” Sen. Johnson told News 18.
Like Ayotte, others are conflicted. Last summer, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) had this to say in response to Trump’s characterization of illegal immigrants who cross the Mexican border as “rapists”:
FacebookEdit descriptionwww.facebook.comSince then, however, Kirk, facing a struggle to keep his seat, has pledged to support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee. That fact isn’t lost on Tammy Duckworth, the Democrat running against him, whose campaign manager recently said that Kirk “can’t hide from his pledge to put loyalty to the Republican Party first and back Donald Trump when he is the GOP nominee.”
Another vulnerable incumbent Republican senator, Ohio’s Rob Portman, is taking heat for saying he’ll support the Republican presidential nominee.
On Wednesday, the Democrat trying to take Portman’s seat, Ted Strickland, tweeted out a statement characterizing Trump’s nomination as Portman’s “election nightmare.”
With the RNC convention in #CLE there will be no rock that Portman can hide under to avoid his Party's toxic nominee https://t.co/7oVMhdA0yD
— Ted Strickland (@Ted_Strickland) May 4, 2016
Two other Republican incumbents on Roll Call’s list of the 10 most vulnerable senators, Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey and Missouri’s Roy Blunt, aren’t embracing Trump, but have indicated they’ll support the Republican nominee.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who was characterized as “not a war hero” by Trump last summer because he was captured during the Vietnam War, may have gone further than any other Republican incumbent in distancing himself from Trump.
“I want Republican voters to pay close attention to what our party’s most-respected and knowledgeable leaders and national security experts are saying about Mr. Trump, and to think long and hard about who they want to be our next commander in chief and leader of the free world,” McCain said in March.