Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) said in a Wednesday interview that he won’t vote for his party’s nominee, saying that Donald Trump has gone “too far.”
Dent told The Morning Call that as a result of Trump’s “incendiary comments” regarding Mexicans, Muslims, women, and the Khan family, he won’t be voting for the GOP candidate in November. He also cited Trump’s “lack of policy specifics and, frankly, the lack of policy knowledge” as a cause for concern.
The reporter noted that Dent had raised those criticisms before and asked Dent to confirm that he’s now willing to say he won’t vote for the nominee.
“This is too much,” Dent confirmed. “Yeah. A bridge too far.”
Dent joins a growing number of Republican officials who have confirmed that they won’t be voting for Donald Trump, including Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).
He also noted Trump’s attacks on “prominent Republicans,” most likely referring to the nominee’s refusal to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in their re-election campaigns. “I mean, Reince Priebus must be beside himself right now.” Dent has withheld his own endorsement from Trump, saying that the nominee “has a lot of persuading to do” first.
Dent said he wouldn’t be voting for Hillary Clinton, either, citing her use of a private email server as secretary of state as one reason he considers the Democratic nominee to be “seriously flawed.”
“There are plenty of good people to write in,” he told the Call. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”