The longest-serving member of the Wisconsin state Senate ― a Republican who’s been within the chamber since 1987 ― revealed Thursday that he’s voting Kamala Harris for president, warning that Donald Trump is “a totalitarian and very much a fascist.”
State Sen. Robert Cowles, who’s retiring on the finish of his time period, shared his determination with Madison-based radio station Civic Media, saying this would be the first time he’s not choosing a Republican for president due to the threats the previous president poses to American democracy.
Latest reviews about Trump allegedly admiring Adolf Hitler, he mentioned, have been his remaining straw.
“The big picture that really came to me in recent days … thinking about fascism in World War II, and members of my own family that fought the fascists both in Japan and Germany,” he mentioned, including: “And then you’ve got Trump saying nice things about Hitler? And sucking up to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin? No. He is clearly our enemy, Putin — a living enemy. And we have to show the courage that the people in the World War II era had.”
Justin Sullivan through Getty Photos
Wisconsin is a serious battleground state. The state went for Trump in 2016 after giving its electoral votes to Democrats within the seven earlier elections, however President Joe Biden reclaimed it in 2020.
Coverage disagreements with Harris, Cowles mentioned, are much less vital than defending the Structure.
“The country will go on, even with some liberal things that Harris might do or might not do,” he mentioned. With out respect for the Structure, he warned, “we will disappear.”
His determination is “one of the most important things I’ve done,” he continued, saying he can dwell with the blowback from different members of his celebration.
Cowles’ full interview will air on Civic Media’s “Rational Revolution” on Saturday.
His endorsement comes shortly after Shawn Reilly, the mayor of the Republican stronghold of Waukesha, Wisconsin, additionally shared he’s voting for Harris. Reilly ― who left the Republican Social gathering and have become an impartial after the Capitol riot in 2021 ― informed The New York Occasions he’s “very afraid of the direction our country will head in if Donald Trump becomes president.”
Former Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican retired in 2023 after voting to question Trump, additionally mentioned Thursday he’s voting for Harris.
