Dem senator: Clinton may command ‘majority of the Republican caucus’

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) says he thinks a lot of Republicans in the Senate are supporting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

{mosads}“From a Senate perspective, in a secret ballot, Hillary gets a lot of votes out of the Republican caucus. Potentially she even commands a majority of the Republican caucus in a secret ballot because people really do respect her,” Whitehouse told Buzzfeed News.

The Rhode Island senator recalled getting a briefing from the Democratic nominee on a highly classified matter in the basement of the Capitol, where “a bunch of Republican senators were sitting in front of me.”

“Two of them, her very prominent antagonists in this election, and one looked over at the other and said ‘Boy, she’s good.’” Whitehouse said.

“The other one leaned back and said, ‘Yeah, she’s really good.’ And that’s the Hillary that they know. Not the talking points Hillary … not the caricature, but the real person.”

Whitehouse said he expects that after the presidential election is over, Clinton will have “a very strong base of credibility, good will, confidence, and relationships to go to, particularly in the Senate.”

Whitehouse then shifted to Donald Trump, saying it’s hard to see how the Republican nominee would work with the Senate because of his temperament.

“But he’s also so badly damaged people who have tried to help him. Look at what he did to poor Chris Christie who tried to be his friend and is now almost a national laughingstock as a result of what he’s done to him,” Whitehouse said.

“Ted Cruz and him were all buds and next thing you know it’s ‘lying Ted’ and he’s accusing Ted’s dad of having something to do with the Kennedy assassination.”

Whitehouse also called Trump’s record “poisonous.”

“He turns on everybody at the first opportunity,” Whitehouse said. “With Donald Trump, it’s all about only one thing, and that is Donald Trump.”