Subject: BREAKING NEWS: Kirk: 'I cannot and will not support my party's nominee'
From: "POLITICO" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2016 14:04:31 -0600

Sen. Mark Kirk, one of the most endangered Republican senators up for reelection this fall, said Tuesday he will not back Donald Trump for president. The Illinois lawmaker had earlier said he would support his party's nominee.

Kirk issued the following statement:

"I have spent my life building bridges and tearing down barriers - not building walls. That's why I find Donald Trump's belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American.

"As the Presidential campaign progressed, I was hoping the rhetoric would tone down and reflect a campaign that was inclusive, thoughtful and principled. While I oppose the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump's latest statements, in context with past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party's nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party. 

"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. After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world."

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