Democratic candidates for the Senate, along with their colleagues already in that body, have no problem at all condemning Donald Trump for his attacks on Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan. But their Republican counterparts really, really don't want to talk about it, with one exception.
There are 22 GOP senators who are facing re-election this fall, and only one—Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson—agreed to speak to The Wall Street Journal on Monday about the party’s presidential nominee and his debate with the parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq in 2004 protecting his unit. When contacted by the Journal, most issued statements that sought to create some distance between themselves and Mr. Trump's remarks without offering any explicit disavowal of Mr. Trump's candidacy. Aides to the rest either didn't respond to requests for comment or said their boss wasn't available to comment.
Ron Johnson, genius, agreed to speak to the WSJ, saying, "I'm responsible for my own actions and my own words and I’m not going to be distracted by other issues." He's not going to be distracted, but he's going to be interviewed about it by a major national paper? Genius. Johnson was the only one to talk directly to the WSJ, and one of seven whose campaigns refused to utter their standard-bearer's name.
Two others—Utah's Mike Lee and Kentucky's Rand Paul—had their spokespeople pretend like it is beneath their notice. Lee "will not be commenting on every little thing Trump says," clarifies his hack. Because attacking the parents of a war hero is just a little thing. Two of the candidates who apparently are really worried about re-election—John McCain and Kelly Ayotte—went so far as to "strongly rebuke," in the WSJ’s words, Donald. Neither, however, rebuked him so strongly that they withdrew their support for him as their nominee.
As usual, for these Republicans it's party before country. Party—in the form of Donald Trump for chrissakes—over everything.
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