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| The three Republicans who haven't made up their minds about Donald Trump The three Republicans who haven't made up their minds about Donald Trump | |
| (30 days later) | |
| With only two days until the general election will decide the fate of the White House, three House Republicans remain the only GOP members of Congress to decline to say whether they will support their party’s nominee for president, Donald Trump. Each of the three – David Jolly of Florida, Martha McSally of Arizona and Mac Thornberry of Texas – long ago voiced a wait-and-see approach to Trump, hoping that he would moderate his statements on women or focus the campaign on national security issues. | With only two days until the general election will decide the fate of the White House, three House Republicans remain the only GOP members of Congress to decline to say whether they will support their party’s nominee for president, Donald Trump. Each of the three – David Jolly of Florida, Martha McSally of Arizona and Mac Thornberry of Texas – long ago voiced a wait-and-see approach to Trump, hoping that he would moderate his statements on women or focus the campaign on national security issues. |
| “If the election were today, I would not support Donald Trump,” pledged Jolly in September, before hedging. “I don’t know where I’ll be in November, but I don’t see a pathway to support Donald Trump.” | “If the election were today, I would not support Donald Trump,” pledged Jolly in September, before hedging. “I don’t know where I’ll be in November, but I don’t see a pathway to support Donald Trump.” |
| “If you endorse somebody, it’s like a stamp of approval and embracing them,” Thornberry explained in June, adding that there was no way he would vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton regardless of whether he voted for Trump. “I’m not comfortable doing that with him based on a number of reasons.” | “If you endorse somebody, it’s like a stamp of approval and embracing them,” Thornberry explained in June, adding that there was no way he would vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton regardless of whether he voted for Trump. “I’m not comfortable doing that with him based on a number of reasons.” |
| But as the race draws to a close, the wait-and-see approach to Trump has become a wait-it-out approach, with the theoretically undecided congressmen (and -woman) keeping tight-lipped about their plans for Tuesday’s presidential election. | But as the race draws to a close, the wait-and-see approach to Trump has become a wait-it-out approach, with the theoretically undecided congressmen (and -woman) keeping tight-lipped about their plans for Tuesday’s presidential election. |
| “He will not vote for Hillary Clinton. He does plan to vote,” Carmen Fenton, a communications aide to Thornberry’s congressional campaign, told the Guardian, saying she did not know for whom the congressman planned on voting. “I know that’s not what you are looking for, but that’s all I have.” | “He will not vote for Hillary Clinton. He does plan to vote,” Carmen Fenton, a communications aide to Thornberry’s congressional campaign, told the Guardian, saying she did not know for whom the congressman planned on voting. “I know that’s not what you are looking for, but that’s all I have.” |
| Despite multiple requests for clarification, representatives for Jolly and McSally all declined to comment on the record regarding the senators’ voting plans. | Despite multiple requests for clarification, representatives for Jolly and McSally all declined to comment on the record regarding the senators’ voting plans. |
| But recent comments indicate a sense that the representatives are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. | But recent comments indicate a sense that the representatives are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. |
| “I don’t plan on endorsing anybody and I haven’t in the past,” McSally told the Arizona Republic in October. McSally is a first-term representative from Arizona’s purple second district, which she won by a mere 167 votes in 2014. “Who we vote for is our own private decision. It’s not my focus or my responsibility … I think the voters are smart enough to figure out who they want to vote for for the president.” | “I don’t plan on endorsing anybody and I haven’t in the past,” McSally told the Arizona Republic in October. McSally is a first-term representative from Arizona’s purple second district, which she won by a mere 167 votes in 2014. “Who we vote for is our own private decision. It’s not my focus or my responsibility … I think the voters are smart enough to figure out who they want to vote for for the president.” |
| In their silence on the nominee’s chances of winning their vote, representatives may be following the example of one of Trump’s prominent endorsers: House speaker Paul Ryan. After the release of a video in which Trump bragged that his fame allowed him to sexually assault women without fear of consequence, Ryan told congressional colleagues that he would no longer defend Trump, urging fellow congressional Republicans “to do what’s best for you” to maintain the Republican majority in the lower house. | In their silence on the nominee’s chances of winning their vote, representatives may be following the example of one of Trump’s prominent endorsers: House speaker Paul Ryan. After the release of a video in which Trump bragged that his fame allowed him to sexually assault women without fear of consequence, Ryan told congressional colleagues that he would no longer defend Trump, urging fellow congressional Republicans “to do what’s best for you” to maintain the Republican majority in the lower house. |
| At the same time, Ryan emphasized that he would not formally un-endorse Trump, and on Tuesday, Ryan announced that he had cast his early-voting ballot in his home state of Wisconsin for “our nominee”. | At the same time, Ryan emphasized that he would not formally un-endorse Trump, and on Tuesday, Ryan announced that he had cast his early-voting ballot in his home state of Wisconsin for “our nominee”. |
| The name “Trump” never crossed Ryan’s lips. | The name “Trump” never crossed Ryan’s lips. |