Posted on 06/13/2016 3:32:14 PM PDT by jazusamo
A former Republican senator is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president after the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., citing her support for gun control.
Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) called for universal background checks on all gun sales and an assault weapons ban Monday in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
“I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am,” said Pressler, who spoke with The Hill on Monday after endorsing Clinton in a statement issued over the weekend.
“This morning, I woke up and told my wife, ‘Did I really do that?’” he said. "But I did.”
“If someone had told me 10 years ago I would do this, I wouldn’t have believed them."
Pressler, a moderate Republican who served three terms in the Senate before losing his seat to Democrat Tim Johnson in 1997, said he believes voting for Clinton is the “responsible thing to do.”
He said he feels disenfranchised by Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and modern-day congressional Republicans who have opposed efforts to expand background checks for gun sales.
“We need to go the route of more gun control as a result of Orlando and all the other shootings that have occurred,” Pressler said. “But it’s almost as though Republicans are saying gun control shouldn’t be part of the conversation at all."
But gun control isn’t the only reason why Pressler is ready to join “Republicans for Clinton” — he’s also concerned about Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims.
“This election is starting to sound like the German elections in [1933],” Pressler said. “This is a very dangerous national conversation we’re slipping into.”
Pressler, a Mormon Sunday school teacher, said he understands all too well the dangers of signaling out a particular religious group.
In 1838, Missouri Gov. Lilburn Boggs ordered Mormons to be killed, which forced many to leave the state before eventually resettling in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Trump makes “Mormons very nervous,” Pressler said.
"Mormons are the only religious group besides the Jews who have been ordered by the government to be extinguished, killed,” he said.
“The worst thing is for Republicans to be silent,” Pressler added. “A lot of Republicans are just saying, ‘I’ll sit it out, I won’t vote.’ Or, ‘I’ll vote for a third-party candidate.’ But if they don’t vote, they are giving more power to dark forces.”
Zackly!
Mormonism is a cult that has it’s root in an area of the US that’s rife in cults of godlessness.
Shocking that he has suddenly decided to endorse Clinton! Especially after having proven his conservative credentials by endorsing Obama in 2008 and 2012.
What a great election. All the rats are being exposed. And Larry knows it had nothing to do with the Q’ran. How noble are the liberals. May we forget they were ever our countryman. Lord knows ISIS will.
What a great election. All the rats are being exposed. And Larry knows it had nothing to do with the Q’ran. How noble are the liberals. May we forget they were ever our countryman. Lord knows ISIS will.
I hope he’s not expecting to suddenly become a darling of the Rats.
Nobody likes or trusts a traitor.
and....just what American citizens do they imagine would just peacefully give away their firearms to King George?
I mean, REALLY these ‘gun control’ nuts are, well, just plain nuts! crazy as bedbugs, nuts!
(and extremely dangerous, if they ever get a chance to try what they want ... they will only provoke needless bloodshed all over USA...for goodness’ sakes we need to defeat Hillary in November!)
and....just what American citizens do they imagine would just peacefully give away their firearms to King George?
I mean, REALLY these ‘gun control’ nuts are, well, just plain nuts! crazy as bedbugs, nuts!
(and extremely dangerous, if they ever get a chance to try what they want ... they will only provoke needless bloodshed all over USA...for goodness’ sakes we need to defeat Hillary in November!)
Pussy. And I think we have a lot of them. I will be furious if they try to pass this off as a gun-control issue.
He’s but a fool.
This is the real GOPe.
WTF is wrong with these freaking Mormons?
(rhetorical question)
[Pressler, a Mormon Sunday school teacher,]
One of Mitt’s Boys.
I’m sure the government will do as well keeping guns out of the terrorists hands as they have done keeping drugs out of the users’ hands.
The PERSON is the weapon!! These idiots need to get their heads out!
Quite frankly, I thought he was dead. Fits the typical Hillary voter profile.
Another Corporate Liberal.
Uhhh shall we talk about massacres, Mr. Pressler?
Mountain Meadows massacre
the stupid party up to it’s old tricks again.
i swear, the GOP could find a way to shoot itself in the arse even if Hillary confiscates every last gun, every last bullet, and every last freedom we have.
Prostitute the hypocrite won’t give up his government-paid bodyguard.
But the f*kin’ whore wants to disarm the rest of us and leave at mercy of mass killers.
What a humanitarian!
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