Ex-GOP senator says Republicans ‘corrupted’ by Trump

Former Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.) is calling on Republicans to cut ties with President Trump, saying he shouldn’t “redefine” what it means to be a Republican.

Danforth wrote in a Washington Post op-ed Thursday that the GOP “has been corrupted by this hateful man, and it is now in peril.”

The former senator said Trump’s divisiveness is not consistent with the party’s roots, noting the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, fought to preserve the union during the Civil War.

{mosads}“Now comes Trump, who is exactly what Republicans are not, who is exactly what we have opposed in our 160-year history,” he said, calling Trump “the most divisive president in our history.”

“Trump is always eager to tell people that they don’t belong here, whether it’s Mexicans, Muslims, transgender people or another group. His message is ‘you are not one of us,’ the opposite of ‘e pluribus unum.’ And when he has the opportunity to unite Americans, to inspire us, to call out the most hateful among us, the KKK and the neo-Nazis, he refuses,” Danforth said.

He spoke of more “fundamental” reasons that he believes Trump is not a true member of the GOP, not because of him disagreeing with Republicans on issues or his attacks on Republicans in Congress — but because Danforth believes he is divisive.

Danforth closed his op-ed with a call for Republicans to reflect on the party’s history and fight to keep the GOP an essential part of U.S. politics.

“In honor of our past and in belief in our future, for the sake of our party and our nation, we Republicans must disassociate ourselves from Trump by expressing our opposition to his divisive tactics and by clearly and strongly insisting that he does not represent what it means to be a Republican,” he wrote.

Danforth served in the Senate from 1976 to 1995, after seven years as governor of Missouri. He was also the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for six months under President George W. Bush.