Jason Chaffetz's announcement he's voting for Donald Trump is not going over too well

Jason Chaffetz.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) isn't getting any head pats for his decision to "not defend or endorse" Donald Trump while still voting for him.

On Twitter Wednesday night, Chaffetz — whose handle, @jasoninthehouse, sounds like a Disney Channel show from the '90s — announced that he will vote for Trump because "HRC is that bad. HRC is bad for the USA." This didn't sit well with many in the media, including Business Insider's Josh Barro, who told Chaffetz he is a "pathetic, craven hack," The Huffington Post's Sam Stein, who asked him to "explain where the line is between endorsing and voting for someone," and The New Republic's Jeet Heer, who said Chaffetz could "play with words all you want; if you vote for Trump and encourage others to, you are endorsing him. He's on you." Chaffetz is also receiving 140 characters worth of flack from constituents and other random Twitter users, calling him a "shell of a man," a "coward," and "pathetic." Have fun reading your mentions for the next few days, congressman!

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.