Another top Republican says he won't vote Trump
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says he won't back the GOP presidential nominee for the first time this year in decades.
"Every four years since my 18th birthday, I have pulled the lever in support of the Republican nominee for president of the United States. That streak will end this November," Ridge wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday in U.S. News and World Report.
Ridge, who endorsed Jeb Bush and then John Kasich in this year's presidential race, said he is "disappointed" that Trump will be his party's nominee.
"With a bumper sticker approach to policy, his bombastic tone reflects the traits of a bully, not an American president and statesman. If he cannot unite Republicans, how can he unite America? I simply cannot endorse him," he said.
At the same time, Ridge said he won't be voting either for Hillary Clinton, who he called a "divisive and untrustworthy candidate."
Instead, he said he wants to focus on helping Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate.
"Over the next six months I have chosen to focus my energies not on the presidency, but on maintaining Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate," he said.
Ridge was the first Homeland Security secretary under President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2005 and previously served as governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001.
At a Jeb Bush event in New Hampshire earlier this year, Ridge dismissed Trump as a serious contender.
"I think Donald Trump is about celebrities, he's about publicity, he's not about bringing a serious mindset toward trying to address the wide range of security challenges in this country," he said. "I just think he's an embarrassment to the party, he's an embarrassment to my country."
