Profiles In Courage: North Dakota Leaders Kinda, Sorta Support Trump
Donald Trump is the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party.
Trump, I don’t need to tell you readers, is a hugely controversial figure and it puts Republicans in a tough spot. Do they endorse Trump as their nominee, along with all the ugly things he’s said and done, or do they oppose him?
Or do they do what North Dakota Senator John Hoeven, and Govenor Jack Dalrymple, have done and split the difference?
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., won’t be making a formal endorsement in the presidential race.
“Sen. Hoeven is not endorsing in the presidential race. He will support the nominee of the party,” Don Larson, Hoeven’s campaign manager, said in an email Wednesday.
Wow. A real profile in courage. Dalrymple, meanwhile, managed to be a bit more sincere. But only a little bit:
“I will be supporting the Republican nominee,” he told a talk radio host. “And that looks like it’s going to be Donald Trump, so I will be supporting him.”
It’s pretty obvious that neither Hoeven nor Dalrymple like Trump but they don’t want to just come out and say that.
Which is too bad. Whatever your thoughts are on Trump, it’d be nice of Hoeven and Dalrymple had the courage to share with us their true thoughts about their party’s nominee.
Say what you want about Congressman Kevin Cramer, who disappointed me and a lot of other people when he enthusiastically endorsed Trump last month, but at least he’s not afraid to take a position.
