Today lots of Republicans are trying to take credit for finally refusing to vote for Donald Trump for President. It’s a political calculation aimed at one thing: getting elected. If any of the Republican House Members or candidates were truly serious about opposing Donald Trump, they would have ditched him a long time ago and sworn to oppose him at the ballot box in November by voting for Hillary Clinton.
Thanks to the New York Times, voters can see just how many chances these Republicans had to put country before party and stand up to Trump. When they do, they’ll see right through these craven, politically calculated attempts to suddenly create distance between House Republicans and Donald Trump, and send them packing in November. Below is a timeline from the Times laying out just some of the incendiary, offensive and disqualifying statements from Donald Trump:
June 16, 2015: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” (On undocumented immigrants from Mexico.)
July 18, 2015: “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
On Senator John McCain of Arizona, a former prisoner of war.
Nov. 12, 2015: “I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me.”
Nov. 24, 2015: “Now this poor guy, you ought to see this guy.” (Mr. Trump jerked his arms around in front of his body and used a mocking tone to imitate a disabled New York Times reporter.)
Dec. 7, 2015: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
Dec. 18, 2015: “When people call you brilliant, it’s always good, especially when the person heads up Russia.”
(It was only after this that Rep. Bob Dold found the nerve to stand up to Trump)
Feb. 1, 2016: “So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you?”
Feb. 6, 2016: “I would bring back waterboarding, and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”
(It was only after this that Rep. Carlos Curbelo found the nerve to stand up to Trump)
Feb. 28, 2016: “I don’t know anything about David Duke. O.K.? I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists.” (Mr. Trump later blamed a bad earpiece for declining to disavow support from the former Ku Klux Klan leader in the CNN interview.)
March 3, 2016: “Look at those hands, are they small hands? And, he referred to my hands — ‘If they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”
March 23, 2016: “The images are worth a thousand words.” (A Twitter post with an unflattering image of Senator Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, next to a glamour shot of Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania.)
June 5, 2016: “I’ve been treated very unfairly by this judge. Now, this judge is of Mexican heritage. I’m building a wall, O.K.? I’m building a wall.” (On Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, a federal judge overseeing a suit against the defunct Trump University.)
June 14, 2016: “President Obama claims to know our enemy, and yet he continues to prioritize our enemy over our allies and, for that matter, the American people. When I am president, it will always be America first.”
July 20, 2016: “If we cannot be properly reimbursed for the tremendous cost of our military protecting other countries . . . then yes, I would be absolutely prepared to tell those countries, ‘Congratulations, you will be defending yourself.’”
July 27, 2016: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.” (An apparent reference to Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails.)
July 30, 2016: “If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably — maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me.” (On the parents of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq after they denounced Mr. Trump at the Democratic National Convention.)
Aug. 9, 2016: “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”
Aug. 10, 2016: “He’s the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder. He founded ISIS. I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.”
Oct. 7, 2016: “I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything.” (Part of a 2005 recording that surfaced showing Mr. Trump speaking in extremely vulgar terms about pushing himself on women.)
If it took until now for a Republican to denounce Trump, do they really deserve credit?