Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk announced on Twitter and in a statement Tuesday he would not be voting for Donald Trump.
Kirk is the first Republican lawmaker to announce he will not support Trump (despite many who have criticized him) in the wake of his comments about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, despite having previously said he supported his party's presumptive nominee, albeit with reservations. Trump has repeatedly called for the judge to excuse himself from handling Trump University's court case because of his "Mexican heritage." Curiel was born in the United States.
"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 statement, 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 the 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 judgement. 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."
Kirk had previously called Trump's candidacy a "net benefit," according to The Hill.
"I had my reservations," Kirk said in May. "I've been thinking, in an age of Trump where you don't know the direction of the country, the person you need most is a steady conservative hand like Mark Kirk in the Senate to be advising the president, especially on national security topics…which is my particular expertise after 23 years in the Navy."
Kirk is fighting to keep his Senate seat in 2016 and is seen as one of the most vulnerable Republican senators.
His walk-back of support comes one day after his Democratic opponent, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, went off on Kirk during a speech to Emily's List (a group that aims to get Democratic women who support abortion rights elected to Congress.)
"Any politician who stays silent, or hopes to fly under the radar, is complicit in his campaign of hate and division — and deserves to be judged harshly. It may not happen immediately, but I fundamentally believe history will not be kind to those who stood by or shrugged off the shameful candidacy of Donald J. Trump," Duckworth said.
On Tuesday, Duckworth's campaign sent out a statement questioning why it took so long for Kirk to say he wouldn't support the presumptive Republican nominee.
Tuesday afternoon, Trump issued a lengthy statement acknowledging that the comments were causing a problem, but he refused to walk them back.
"It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage," Trump said in the statement.
