GOP Congressman Says He Can’t Support Trump, Will Vote Clinton

US Rep. Richard Hanna is a loyal Republican having served three terms for his Party. But Congressman Hanna is breaking ranks this election to vote for Hillary Clinton – the Democratic nominee.

According to NewYorkUpstate.com, Hanna, who will be retiring in the coming months at the end of his term, claims that Trump’s attack against the parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier was what tipped him to vote against the Republican.

“I saw that and felt incensed,” Hanna said of Trump’s criticisms of the Gold Star parents. “I was stunned by the callousness of his comments.”

“I think Trump is a national embarrassment,” Hanna continued. “Is he really the guy you want to have the nuclear codes?”

Hanna also wrote an op-ed piece, published August 2, in which he calls Trump “deeply flawed in endless ways” and “unrepentant in all things”.

“In his latest foray of insults, Mr. Trump has attacked the parents of a slain U.S. soldier,” Hanna wrote. “Where do we draw the line? I thought it would have been when he alleged that U.S. Sen. John McCain was not a war hero because he was caught. Or the countless other insults he’s proudly lobbed from behind the Republican presidential podium. For me, it is not enough to simply denounce his comments: He is unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country.”

“I can’t look back in my life when I leave this job and know that I didn’t speak the truth when it was important to do so,” Hanna responded when asked of potential Party backlash.

According to the New York Times, Trump has canceled a planned August 4 campaign stop in Plattsburgh, New York. The Times also notes that Hanna has broken ranks with his Party before, and received heat for it – most notably in 2014 when he was a vocal supporter of same-sex marriage. 

Sources: New York Upstate, New York Times / Photo Credit: NewYorkUpstate.com