PHILADELPHIA – After Donald Trump’s blockbuster press conference Wednesday, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) predicts that even her Republican colleagues might be plotting to go into the voting booth come November and cast their ballot clandestinely for Hillary Clinton.
“I will tell you this. I would bet serious money that most of my Republican colleagues vote for Hillary Clinton,” McCaskill told TPM in a sit-down interview Wednesday. “They care that much about their country. There will be some that won’t … it will be a secret, but I have an awful lot of confidence in a lot of my Republican colleagues.”
McCaskill said Trump was “so ill-equipped in understanding foreign policy and understanding the ramifications of his words” that her GOP colleagues may struggle to support him when the rubber meets the road.
“The way we remain powerful and strong and secure is having a president that has some idea of what is coming out of his mouth,” McCaskill said.
McCaskill noted that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)– a vocal Trump ally– was probably still voting for Trump, but many would be considering Clinton come November.
“There is a bulk of them that care deeply about their country, and I know when they get in that voting booth, they are not going to be able to bring themselves to vote for Donald Trump,” McCaskill said. “Now whether they can bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton, I don’t know, but there will be a bunch of them that will.”
McCaskill said she was just flabbergasted by Trump’s comments Wednesday encouraging Russia to hack his opponent.
“Can you imagine what would happen if he had been the Democratic nominee and had done that? Can you imagine the Fox News hell that would reign down on a Democratic nominee’s head for encouraging Russia to commit espionage?” McCaskill said. “I have noticed my Republican colleagues have been very quiet today. I think they don’t know whether to just put their hands over their ears and hope its over soon.”
