Donovan admits Trump’s reckless rhetoric that disparages POWs, incites violence, tramples on Constitution and makes America less safe are “divisive”
New York Congressman Dan Donovan is falling in line with other New York House Republicans in pledging to support Donald Trump for president.
Donovan told the Staten Island Advance that while Trump is not his first choice, “his party needs to rally behind its candidate, even if they don’t agree with some — or much — of what he says.” However, Donovan admitted that Trump’s reckless rhetoric that disparages POWs, incites violence, tramples on Constitution and makes America less safe are “divisive.”
The endorsement also comes at a curious time, following reports that Trump’s New York surrogate, failed gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, was “bullying” New York House Republicans into backing Trump.
“Now that Dan Donovan is pledging to support Donald Trump, he will be pressed to defend Trump’s reckless rhetoric as party standard-bearer that divides our country, insults POWs, incites violence, tramples on the Constitution and Republican national security experts warn would make America less safe,” said Bryan Lesswing at the DCCC. “Donovan will find it difficult to distance himself from his own party’s presumptive standard-bearer Donald Trump and his reckless rhetoric that voters have doubts would keep our country less safe.”
Trump at the top of the ticket is bad news for vulnerable Republicans like Donovan.
Donovan claims that Republican voters will coalesce behind Trump after the primary season, but recent House GOP polling indicates that “a plurality of respondents — 48 percent to 40 percent — would be less likely to vote for a Republican congressional candidate or incumbent if Trump were the nominee.”
Recent internal polling conducted by the DCCC showed that “nearly 60 percent of likely voters in key congressional districts have ‘fairly major’ or ‘very major’ doubts about GOP House candidates connected to the national security views of Republican front-runner Donald Trump or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.”