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Thirty Former GOP Congressmen Come Out Against Trump

It's the largest group of former Republican elected officials to officially announce their opposition to the current leader of their party.
Image: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Reno
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, U.S., October 5, 2016.MIKE SEGAR / Reuters

A group of 30 former Republican members of Congress has publicly come out against Donald Trump.

It's the largest group of former Republican elected officials to officially announce their opposition to the current leader of their party.

"Sadly, our party's nominee this year is a man who makes a mockery of the principles and values we have cherished and which we sought to represent in Congress," the letters states.

Some of the members had previously announced their displeasure with the candidate, including Rep. Tom Coleman of Missouri, but nearly half of the signatories are doing so for the first time.

"At some point you have to put country over party," said Coleman. "I think he's dangerous. I think he is mentally and emotionally unfit to be president."

One of the signatories, Rep. Bill Clinger of Pennsylvania, oversaw the House Government and Oversight Reform Committee, which investigated former president Bill Clinton's administration for Filegate and Travelgate.

"(To) the people in the Republican Party who are saying you need to fall in line - don’t try to persuade us. This guy has real personal problems and we don’t want somebody like him in office," said former Rep. Mickey Edwards of Oklahoma.

But will the members vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton? "I don't know," Coleman said.

"It’s not about voting for somebody. We left it open for people to support Mrs. Clinton - that’s fine or they vote third party or some don’t want to vote at all," he added.

Here's a list of signatories:

Steve Bartlett (R-TX)

Bob Bauman (R-MD)

Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)

Jack Buechner (R-MO)

Tom Campbell (R-CA)

Bill Clinger (R-PA)

Tom Coleman (R-MO)

Geoff Davis (R-KY)

Mickey Edwards (R-OK)

Harris Fawell (R-IL)

Ed Foreman (R-TX) (R-NM)

Amo Houghton, Jr. (R-NY)

Gordon Humphrey (Senator, R-NH)

Bob Inglis (R-SC)

Jim Kolbe (R-AZ)

Steve Kuykendall (R-CA)

Jim Leach (R-IA)

Pete McCloskey (R-CA)

Connie Morella (R-MD)

Mike Parker (R-MS)

Tom Petri (R-WI)

John Porter (R-IL)

Claudine Schneider (R-RI)

John “Joe” Schwarz (R-MI)

Chris Shays (R-CT)

Peter Smith (R-VT)

Edward Weber (R-OH)

Vin Weber (R-MN)

G. William Whitehurst (R-VA)

Dick Zimmer (R-NJ)