Chris Coons says 5 GOP senators told him they are 'struggling' with supporting Trump's re-election

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Several prominent Republicans have always struggled with the idea of President Trump sitting in the Oval Office, so it's not surprising to hear that the likes of former President George W. Bush, his brother and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), reportedly won't or may not support the president's re-election in November.

The New York Times notes that George W. Bush didn't vote for Trump in 2016, but "the reproach of big Republican names carries a different weight when an incumbent president and his shared agenda with Senate leaders are on the line." Still, the Bushes and McCain, as well as several retired lawmakers and military leaders who may not back the president, are able to do so without putting their own positions at risk. Sitting GOP lawmakers who are grappling with whether to vote for Trump are the ones who may have a tougher decision to make.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.