Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk Is First Republican To Undorse Trump, Still Doomed In November

It was a troubled relationship from the start

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, whose re-election campaign was already bumpy enough to begin with, seeing as how he's up against the awesome Tammy Duckworth, has become the first prominent GOP member to officially withdraw his endorsement of Donald Trump (no, Lindsey Graham doesn't count because he never formally endorsed Trump to start with). What did Sen. Kirk have to say as he hit the eject button, besides "Geronimo! And I don't mean that in a way that's insensitive to our great Native American Communiteeeeeeees!"?

I have spent my life building bridges and tearing down barriers–not building walls. That’s why I find Donald Trump’s belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American.

As the Presidential campaign progressed, I was hoping the rhetoric would tone down and reflect a campaign that was inclusive, thoughtful and principled. While I oppose the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump’s latest statements, in context 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.

Yes, Mark Kirk is indeed disabled -- he had a stroke in 2012, and probably was none too happy himself about that National Republican Senatorial Committee tweet complaining that Tammy Duckworth "has a sad record of not standing up for our veterans." So he's bravely swimming away from what he fears may be a sinking Trumpship now. The statement continues:

It is absolutely essential that we are guided by a commander-in-chief with a responsible and proper temperament, discretion and judgment. Our President must be fit to command the most powerful military the world has ever seen, including an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons. After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world.

So that's one down, not that disassociating himself from Trump is likely to help Kirk much in the fall, or that this latest idiocy really will mean the end of Trump, whose Teflon coating is twice as thick as Ronald Reagan's. Still, right thing to do and all that. We do have to wonder, of course, what sort of brilliant idiocy Trump will now hurl at Kirk. Maybe he could mock Kirk while pretending to limp around his podium?

[ Chicago Sun-Times ]