Republican Congressman backs Clinton, calls Trump "unfit to serve"

Republican Congressman Richard Hanna said on Tuesday that he will vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the November election because his party's candidate, Donald Trump, "cannot lead this country".

"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," the New York lawmaker said in an op-ed piece he wrote for a Syracuse newspaper.

Hanna becomes the first Republican congressman to publicly announce his support for Clinton in the presidential election and to raise the level of his criticism of the GOP candidate, EFE news reported.

The three-term lawmaker representing the 22nd District in upstate New York harshly criticised the real estate magnate, saying he is "unfit to serve our party" and adding that he cannot vote for someone who is "unrepentant in all things".

"I do not expect perfection, but I do require more than the embodiment of at least a short list of the seven deadly sins," Hanna wrote.

Hanna said Trump is "profoundly offensive and narcissistic" and "a world-class panderer", suggesting that the mogul's demeanour, comments and attitude make him unfit to be President.

"I never expect to agree with whoever is President, but at a minimum the President needs to consistently display those qualities I have preached to my two children: kindness, honesty, dignity, compassion and respect," EFE news quoted Hanna as saying in the op-ed piece.

The lawmaker said he had spent months weighing the possibility of voting for Clinton, formerly a Senator from New York, Secretary of State and first lady, and finally made the decision to back her after Trump's latest broadside of criticism against Khizr Khan, the father of Muslim-American US Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in combat in Iraq in 2004.

Khizr Khan harshly criticised Trump in his speech before the Democratic National Convention.

Hanna also criticised the Republican primary process, saying that the GOP primaries are designed to attract only the party base but essentially ignore many women, Hispanics, LGBT community members, young people and many others.

Trump won the GOP presidential nomination on the basis of his series of overwhelming primary victories.

--IANS

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