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Humphrey Urges RNC to Replace Trump with Candidate 'Of Sound Mind'

Gordon Humphrey
Gordon Humphrey
Gordon Humphrey
Gordon Humphrey

Calling Donald Trump’s latest controversial comment the last straw, former U.S. Senator Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire is urging Republican leaders to strip Trump of the presidential nomination and replace him with someone "of sound mind."

Speaking to MSNBC, Humphrey said Trump’s suggestion at a rally Tuesday that gun owners could take action to stop Hillary Clinton from appointing U.S. Supreme Court judges went too far.

"And it only reinforces again what so many of us have been saying: that Donald Trump is possessed of an unbalanced mind," Humphrey said. "In common parlance, the man is a nut cake. He's a loony bird, and it would be the height of irresponsibility to elevate him to the presidency."

Humphrey sent a letter Tuesday to New Hampshire’s members of the Republican National Committee and urged them to call an emergency meeting.

"The RNC would not be powerless if a candidate fell into a coma from which recovery was uncertain. In that circumstance, the RNC would act under a duty to the Party and a moral duty to the nation to replace the nominee," he wrote. "Likewise, when a candidate repeated evidences unsoundness of mind, the RNC has a duty to act. The time is now." 

Humphrey, who has been a vocal Trump critic, says party rules leave open the possibility of removing a candidate from the ticket.

"I am aware that Rule 9 is not explicit about replacing a nominee who is mentally or physically disabled, but the word 'otherwise' surely was meant to cover all bases over above 'death' and declination'," he wrote.

Copyright 2016 New Hampshire Public Radio

Michael serves as NHPR's Program Director, and as Executive Producer of The Exchange. Michael came to NHPR in 2012, working as the station's newscast producer/reporter. In 2015, he took on the role of Morning Edition producer. Michael worked for eight years at The Telegraph of Nashua, covering education and working as the metro editor. Michael started his career in journalism working as a reporter for the Derry News. Michael is a New Hampshire native, born and raised in Nashua. He studied journalism at Keene State College.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

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