Sen. Mike Lee Still Anti-Trump, Not Quite #NeverTrump

 

Back in March, Senator Mike Lee of Utah became the first US Senator to endorse his colleague, Senator Ted Cruz; today, he’s one of the last members of Congress not to have endorsed Donald Trump. Asked if he could change his mind, Lee told Steve Malzberg:

“Hey look, Steve, I get it. You want me to endorse Trump,” Lee told NewsMaxTV’s Steve Malzberg when asked why he wasn’t “trumpeting Trump.”

“We can get into that if you want,” he continued. “We can get into the fact that he accused my best friend’s father of conspiring to kill JFK. We can go through the fact that he’s made statements that some have identified correctly as religiously intolerant. We can get into the fact that he’s wildly unpopular in my state, in part because my state consists of people who are members of a religious minority church. A people who were ordered exterminated by the governor of Missouri in 1838. And, statements like that make them nervous.”

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  1. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Interesting that Sen. Lee refers to Ted Cruz as his best friend. I seem to recall a different take offered around here.

    I wonder if some lines are/have been drawn.

    • #1
  2. Merina Smith Inactive
    Merina Smith
    @MerinaSmith

    Maybe the Smith family needs to move back to Utah.

    • #2
  3. WI Con Member
    WI Con
    @WICon

    Nice to see Malzberg stuffed into his locker. Neatly encapsulates the real problems many of us have with Trump. He’s talked a lot of trash, stirred up a lot of bad feelings (and has been recipient as well) – he’s got to start bringing people on the right together and show he can raise money & organize more than BS.

    Talk of a convention delegate revolt seems to have died down over the week but I’m still open to it. It’s like taking the pitcher of the mound. We’ve got to win this game and this ‘Phenom’ draft isn’t living up to as billed. A lot of fans liked him, a lot of fans didn’t but he’s throwing balls right now and his fast ball isn’t all its been made out to be – that doesn’t mean I want the other team to win.

    • #3
  4. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    I respect Sen. Lee, and I also think he and his fellow Utahns are wise enough to know Mr. Trump won’t be intolerant of religious people unless their church leaders are urging their adherents to cut off people’s heads, shoot up nightclub-goers and blow up airports.

    • #4
  5. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    BrentB67:Interesting that Sen. Lee refers to Ted Cruz as his best friend. I seem to recall a different take offered around here.

    I wonder if some lines are/have been drawn.

    I’ll take Sen. Lee at his word. Men of principle usually find ways to get along, even if they don’t agree all the time.

    • #5
  6. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Jamie Lockett:

    BrentB67:Interesting that Sen. Lee refers to Ted Cruz as his best friend. I seem to recall a different take offered around here.

    I wonder if some lines are/have been drawn.

    I’ll take Sen. Lee at his word. Men of principle usually find ways to get along, even if they don’t agree all the time.

    I take him at his word also. I was referring more to our ‘sources’.

    • #6
  7. WI Con Member
    WI Con
    @WICon

    I’d really like to see Mike Lee as Senate Majority/Minority Leader. He’s terrific. Heck, if there is a delegate coup – I could see Scott Walker or Mike Lee as two guys that could bring about some unity.

    • #7
  8. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    In the course of the primaries many things were said. Unfortunately, Trump lowered the standards beyond limits that should never be surpassed. His intent seemed, not so much to win the primaries, as to damage irreparably his opponents and make them vulnerable if nominated. That is not the action of someone who wants a Republican president at the end of the day. We weren’t talking about “establishment” candidates with the exception of Bush and Kasich.

    Add to all of that Trump’s inexcusable, adolescent imitation of a disabled reporter, something that as a special educator for more that 40 years I find particularly appalling, and you have real wall of dislike which it will take a monumental effort by Trump to overcome.

    I detest Hillary, and hope that some deus ex machina removes her from the race, but given the choice between Hillary and Trump I will leave that portion of my ballot unmarked.

    • #8
  9. The Question Inactive
    The Question
    @TheQuestion

    I too have a very hard time letting go of Trump’s accusations against Rafael Cruz.  I don’t think the accusations are as serious an issue as, for example, Hillary’s emails or Benghazi.  But that’s exactly the problem.  Trump isn’t serious enough to be president.  If he really thinks that Rafael Cruz helped kill JFK, that means he’s mentally unfit to be President.  If he was just saying that to sabotage Cruz, that means he has no inhibitions against hurting conservatives when it helps him.

    I’m not going to go out of my way to criticize Trump now that the other nominees have dropped out.  Hillary certainly deserves much more criticism.  However, I’m not going to feel guilty about electing Hillary when the Trump supporters have her 80% elected already.  We really should have beat Hillary this year, and I still can’t figure out why we chose to disarm ourselves

    • #9
  10. Tom Wilson Inactive
    Tom Wilson
    @TomWilson

    Gotta love Mike Lee. I wish we had 99 more like him. His answers here were perfect in my opinion.

    • #10
  11. Penfold Member
    Penfold
    @Penfold

    If you’re attempting to have some influence on moderating Trump, you’re not going to give away the store, at least not right away.  Lee and others are just playing the cards as dealt to them.  Hello!?! Politics.

    • #11
  12. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    Trump doesn’t seem to get that he’s selling votes now, not buying.

    He is used to paying for politicians, and if they didn’t give him what he wanted (wedding attendance, zoning changes, etc) he could withhold his endorsement and money. He doesn’t get that he’s not in this position any more. He can’t freeze out people because he is the one who needs their endorsements and votes.

    In a business, you can make do with a core of very loyal customers. White Castle doesn’t need to be bigger than McDonald’s. But in politics, if you don’t get 50%+1, you’re out of business.

    • #12
  13. Nick Stuart Inactive
    Nick Stuart
    @NickStuart

    Here is an example of a politician who calls on party loyalty when it’s his campaign he’s trying to win. Loyalty to other members of his party? Not so much.

    I’m developing a new appreciation for why after liberation in WWII the resistance dealt with collaborators by shooting them, hanging them, or marching them naked through the streets with shaved heads.

    Although the consequences experienced by the Quisling Cons and collaborators of 2016 will only be political and metaphorical, their actions will not be soon forgotten.

    • #13
  14. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    A question for NeverTrumpers about Sen. Lee: if he does eventually endorse Trump because Trump fulfills his criteria, will you also? Or will you dismiss Lee’s reputation like that of Jeff Sessions, Larry Kudlow, Newt Gingrich, et al?

    • #14
  15. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    Pencilvania:A question for NeverTrumpers about Sen. Lee: if he does eventually endorse Trump because Trump fulfills his criteria, will you also? Or will you dismiss Lee’s reputation like that of Jeff Sessions, Larry Kudlow, Newt Gingrich, et al?

    I would have to see Sen Lee’s reason for doing so, but no I wouldn’t dismiss him but I won’t vote for Trump either.

    • #15
  16. Merina Smith Inactive
    Merina Smith
    @MerinaSmith

    I haven’t dismissed everyone who has endorsed Trump.  I think they are doing the wrong thing, but I know it’s a complicated problem in light of what it means to belong to a party.  It certainly won’t change my mind about not voting for him, but it would not stop me from voting for Mike Lee in the future.  Part of the issue is also the way they have endorsed.  Chris Christie for example–ick–never supporting him.  If they make it clear this is a nose-holding moment, they are far more likely to get my support in the future.

    • #16
  17. Mister D Inactive
    Mister D
    @MisterD

    Pencilvania:A question for NeverTrumpers about Sen. Lee: if he does eventually endorse Trump because Trump fulfills his criteria, will you also? Or will you dismiss Lee’s reputation like that of Jeff Sessions, Larry Kudlow, Newt Gingrich, et al?

    Speaking for myself, I am partly able to be firmly NeverTrump because I am in NY and my vote won’t matter in the general. However, I have always held that Donald has the ability to change my mind, and my criteria are not that different from Lee’s. However, Donald being Donald, I don’t for one moment expect him to change who he is.

    • #17
  18. Joe P Member
    Joe P
    @JoeP

    Nick Stuart:Here is an example of a politician who calls on party loyalty when it’s his campaign he’s trying to win. Loyalty to other members of his party? Not so much.

    I’m developing a new appreciation for why after liberation in WWII the resistance dealt with collaborators by shooting them, hanging them, or marching them naked through the streets with shaved heads.

    Although the consequences experienced by the Quisling Cons and collaborators of 2016 will only be political and metaphorical, their actions will not be soon forgotten.

    I thought you were for Trump?

    • #18
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