Toomey continues to maintain distance from Trump
Like other Republican candidates in this election, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey has not embraced the GOP presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump.
His lack of endorsement of the party’s choice with only four days until the election was among the topics he discussed during a recent interview with the Herald-Standard.
Both Toomey and his Democratic challenger, Katie McGinty, were invited to participate in a public candidate forum hosted by the Herald-Standard, but due to their respective schedules were unable to do so.
The two were offered an opportunity to take part in a telephone interview, with Toomey agreeing to answer several questions offered by the newspaper’s editorial board.
McGinty declined the invitation, noting that her schedule was unable to accommodate an interview.
Toomey said in his opinion, Trump is a “badly flawed candidate.”
“I have criticized (Trump) publicly for many of the things he has said, policies he’s taken and questioned his temperament and judgement,” said Toomey.
Although Trump’s candidacy is flawed, he continued, the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, is moreso.
While information about classified emails being received and sent from Clinton’s private server continues to be revealed, Toomey said McGinty has yet to raise any questions about the illegal activity of her party’s nominee.
“She is the most badly flawed candidate in modern history,” said Toomey. “She has a long history of being dishonest with the American people (and) a blatant history of corruption, for which new evidence is emerging on a daily basis.”
Toomey said many Pennsylvanian’s have reservations about Trump, so his arm’s length stance is not uncommon.
However, while the clock ticks toward the hour he will step into the polling booth, he declined to state his presidential choice.
“I can’t possibly ever support Hillary Clinton, but I’m very disappointed with the choice that (Republicans) have,” he said. “(Because) the election is not being held today, I don’t have to make a decision today. I will make the decision when I’m ready to.”
Toomey has also stood with fellow Senate Republicans to block action to name a new U.S. Supreme Court justice.
The court vacancy occurred earlier this year with the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia.
President Barack Obama recommended Merrick B. Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to replace Scalia, but the GOP-held Senate has refused to hold confirmation hearings, saying the new president should do so.
His hesitation, said Toomey, stems from his belief that Scalia’s presence on the court allowed for decision-making that sometimes favored conservative thinking and other times, liberal thinking.
“It was ideologically balanced,” he said. “With the passing of Justice Scalia, the question arises what will the balance of the court be.
“Will it be balanced or will it lean to the left or lean to the right?”
Toomey said while the president and the Senate share the responsibility of selecting members of the Supreme Court, the voters should also play a role and will have that opportunity on Nov. 8.
“I just think it’s better for the American people to have the maximum say in this, and they will have that opportunity by virtue of their election choice,” he said. “Going through the motion of examining the credentials of Judge Garland would seem dishonest.
“To me as I think we should await the decision of the American people.”
Whether Garland would be a consideration if recommended by either a Clinton or Trump administration, Toomey said he is undecided.
“I haven’t ruled that out,” he said. “I do have reservations about Judge Garland, but if the next president would nominate Judge Garland, I would give him serious consideration.”
An audio recording is available for listening on the Herald-Standard website at www.heraldstandard.com.