Mass. GOP Guv Says He Won’t Back Trump As Republican 2016 Nom

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker delivers his State of the State address at the Statehouse in Boston, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
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Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker joined team #NeverTrump on Wednesday, telling reporters he won’t vote for frontrunner Donald Trump in November even if he’s the party’s nominee.

“I said I wasn’t going to vote for Donald Trump yesterday and I didn’t, and I don’t plan to vote for him in November,” Baker said, referring to the state’s Super Tuesday primary, which Trump won by a substantial margin.

Asked whether he would cross party lines if Trump secures the nomination, Baker responded in audio posted online by the Boston Globe, “I’m not much of a fan of Hillary Clinton, let’s put it that way.”

“But I’m not willing to concede with 35 states still to go that he’s going to be the Republican nominee,” he said. “I’m not willing to concede that the Republican nomination is over.”

Trump won seven states on Super Tuesday. Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) was the next closest candidate, winning two states, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) claimed victory in one.

Baker joined a growing contingent of conservatives who say they would rather vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton or a third-party candidate than support Trump in the general election.

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Notable Replies

  1. I don’t plan to vote for him in November

    Ya know, a plan does not mean a commitment…

  2. Good observation but I think what matters here is that he’s publicly emphasis on the publicly disavowing his party’s presumptive nominee. (See, Donald? That verb can take an object.) I’ll give him credit for integrity and give him the benefit of the doubt too. Why would he say that and then pull Trump’s lever in the booth? Wouldn’t make much sense.

  3. This may just be a drip, but it’s an unprecedented drip. The Onion wouldn’t have written these headlines a year ago.

  4. I’ll be surprised if Baker sticks to his guns. He’s always been an empty suit with very few convictions of his own – more proof Martha Coakley should never campaign for anything ever again!

  5. Only these weasley word guys know what they do in the privacy of a polling booth or with the absentee ballot in front of them at the kitchen table.

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