Republican Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Tuesday dismissed GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s readiness to command the U.S. nuclear arsenal in pulling his support for the billionaire businessman.
“It is absolutely essential that we are guided by a commander-in-chief with a responsible and proper temperament, discretion and judgment. Our President must be fit to command the most powerful military the world has ever seen, including an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons,” Kirk said in a statement on his re-election campaign website. “After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world.”
Kirk, a former Navy Reserve officer facing a tough re-election battle against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, reaffirmed his message shortly afterward on Twitter: “Given my military experience, Donald Trump does not have the temperament to command our military or our nuclear arsenal.”
Kirk’s reversal on Trump comes as much of the Republican Party establishment has — with varying degrees of enthusiasm — rallied around the candidate. However, Trump’s recent rhetoric against a federal judge overseeing the lawsuit against Trump University — saying Indiana-born Gonzalo Curiel is a Mexican who has a conflict of interest in the case — has been a clear source of dismay for party leaders. Kirk is the first GOP member of the Senate to formally withdraw an endorsement from Trump, according to reports.
The senator’s comments come only days after Hillary Clinton, the anticipated Democratic candidate in the general election, lambasted Trump as “not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes.”
