Iowa State Sen. David Johnson became the first elected official to leave the party over Donald Trump. He changed his affiliation to “no party.” Johnson said:
“I will not stand silent if the party of Lincoln and the end of slavery buckles under the racial bias of a bigot.”
Johnson has been in the state Senate since 2002. He endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina. He said the last straw for him was Trump’s attacks on judge Gonzalo Curiel. Curiel was trying the case involving fraud charges against Trump for the Trump University scam. Trump is even ordering his people to join him in his racist tirade. His own campaign had told him to lay off the judge, but Trump said his people should take that order and “throw it the hell out.”
Johnson compared Trump’s rise to that of Hitler and said Trump has won:
“…by reducing his campaign to reality TV and large crowds and divisive language and all the trappings of a good show for those who like that kind of approach, and that’s what happened in the 1930s in Germany. I think that’s all I need to say but certainly the fascists took control of Germany under the same types of strategies.”
Johnson said that he would rejoin the party if they ousted Trump. He was horrified that people like Paul Ryan are supporting the orange yelling machine even after they called the candidate’s rhetoric racist.
Trump is not just racist against Hispanics, Johnson was also horrified about Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the country. This is eerily similar to Hitler coming down on Jewish people during World War II. Luckily, Trump hasn’t proposed concentration camps yet.
Johnson is hurt by the innate bigotry Trump’s supporters are demonstrating. He is hoping that the GOP will “Dump Trump” at the convention in Cleveland.
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