Gov. Baker reiterates criticism of Trump’s ‘inability to respect others’
Donald Trump’s ongoing fight with the parents of a U.S. Army captain who died in Iraq has further solidified Gov. Charlie Baker’s stance that Trump is unfit to be president.
“As I have said many times, Donald Trump lacks the temperament necessary to be president and his recent comments epitomize his inability to respect others,” Baker told The Boston Globe.
Baker, a Republican who has said he will not vote for Trump, has repeatedly condemned the businessman’s rhetoric. Last August, the governor assailed Trump after a series of incendiary comments, such as Trump’s statement that Fox News host Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her whatever” during the Republican debate.
“I was raised by my parents in a certain way,’’ Baker said at the time on Boston Public Radio, “And I find a lot of those comments to be reprehensible, outrageous and ridiculous. And I wish he would take them back.’’
In February, just before the New Hampshire primary, Baker singled out Trump, questioning his “sense of purpose” in government.
“I certainly expressed my concerns before about Donald Trump,” Baker said at the time. “I think there’s a certain temperament and a certain collaborative nature that’s fundamental to somebody’s ability to succeed in government, and I question whether he has the temperament and the sense of purpose that’s associated with delivering on that.”
The latest salvo from Baker comes after Trump voluntarily tangled with the grieving family of Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim U.S. soldier who was killed by a suicide bomb in Iraq in 2004. His parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, were invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention, where Khizr Khan delivered a forceful criticism of Trump and his proposed ban on Muslim immigration.
Trump responded by questioning whether Ghazala Khan was “allowed” to speak at the convention. Trump also said he had made many sacrifices himself, saying he “created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures.”
The criticism of the Khans and the comparison of losing a child to building great structures have been sharply criticized as inappropriate by Democrats and Republicans alike. New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican who has said she will vote for Trump, said she was “appalled” by his remarks.
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