The longest-serving Republican legislator in Iowa, state Rep. Andy McKean, left the Republican Party on Tuesday and did so with a scathing opinion of Donald Trump. The lawmaker who's been in the legislature for 26 years said he could no longer support his party’s leader due to Trump’s “unacceptable behavior” and “reckless spending." He’s said his decision was difficult but feels he as a GOP member, he needs to be able to “support the standard-bearer of our party,” and McKean says he can’t do that with Trump.
“Unacceptable behavior should be called out for what it is,” he said during the news conference at the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines, “and Americans of all parties should insist on something far better in the leader of their country and the free world.”McKean now joins the ranks of state Republican officials who have fled the party amid a divisive presidency and shifting political landscape. From Kansas to New Jersey, a slow succession of state lawmakers and officials, largely in suburban districts that have become less red, has both startled and appeased constituents by crossing the aisle, oftentimes citing Trump’s rhetoric, policies and a disagreement with their party’s responses to his behavior.
The trend for GOP unrest is growing especially after Robert Mueller’s report. Also, on Tuesday:
A member of Trump’s 2016 transition team published an essay in the Atlantic detailing why the report has led him to feel comfortable calling for Trump’s impeachment, even as a longtime Republican.
McKean says he believes “it’s a matter of time” before America pays a “heavy price for Trump’s recklessness and short-sighted financial policies.” McKean continues his Trump renunciation.
“He sets, in my opinion, a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children by personally insulting, often in a crude and juvenile fashion, those who disagree with him, being a bully at a time when we’re attempting to discourage bullying,” McKean said.
Mckean adds:
“I believe his actions have coarsened political discourse, have resulted in unprecedented divisiveness and have created an atmosphere that is a breeding ground for hateful rhetoric and actions. Some would excuse this behavior as ‘telling it like it is’ and the new normal. If this is the new normal, I want no part of it.”
“You have to be true to yourself,” says McKean. “For me, that time has come.”
May more Republicans have the guts to do the same, though sadly, some of the GOP Trump supporters are as bad as Trump and are being true to their own selfish ends, which in no way serves the American people. McKean, who intends to run as a Democrat in 2020, proves some GOP members have a conscience. And it's about time, or more accurately—way, WAY overdue.