GOP Rep. Says He’ll Vote For Clinton: Trump Is A ‘National Embarrassment’

UNITED STATES - APRIL 18: Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., attends a Joint Economic Committee hearing in Hart Building titled "The Fed at 100: Can Monetary Policy Close the Growth Gap and Promote a Sound Dollar." (Photo B... UNITED STATES - APRIL 18: Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., attends a Joint Economic Committee hearing in Hart Building titled "The Fed at 100: Can Monetary Policy Close the Growth Gap and Promote a Sound Dollar." (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) on Tuesday became the first Republican member of the House to openly say that he plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November.

Hanna, who is not running for re-election this year, told Syracuse.com in an interview published Tuesday that Donald Trump is “unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country.”

“I think Trump is a national embarrassment. Is he really the guy you want to have the nuclear codes?” he asked.

The congressman said that he’s considered voting for Clinton for a few months, and that Trump’s attacks the parents of a deceased Muslim American soldier were the last straw.

“I saw that and felt incensed,” Hanna told Syracuse.com. “I was stunned by the callousness of his comments.”

Hanna also wrote an op-ed on Syracuse.com spelling out why he cannot support Trump and will instead vote for Hillary Clinton.

“Secretary Clinton has issues that depending on where one stands can be viewed as great or small. But she stands and has stood for causes bigger than herself for a lifetime. That matters,” he wrote. “Mrs. Clinton has promoted many of the issues I have been committed to over the years including expanding education and supporting women’s health care.”

“While I disagree with her on many issues, I will vote for Mrs. Clinton. I will be hopeful and resolute in my belief that being a good American who loves his country is far more important than parties or winning and losing,” he added.

Hanna has already said that he will not back Trump, and he often bucks his party — he supports same-sex marriage and rejects certain limitations on abortion.

In April, he said that the GOP “is not capable of nominating anyone who is electable nationally,” lamenting the “extreme” members of the Republican party.

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