The First Defection: Republican Elector Writes In NYT Op-Ed Why He Won’t Be Voting For Trump

A Republican member of the Electoral College, Christopher Suprun, has published an op-ed in the NYT explaining on Monday explaining why he will not be casting his vote for Donald Trump.
‘The election of the next president is not yet a done deal,’ Texas elector Suprun writes the New York Times article. ‘Electors of conscience can still do the right thing for the good of the country. Presidential electors have the legal right and a constitutional duty to vote their conscience.’
If Suprun follows through on his promise next month, he would become the first ‘faithless elector’ since 2004.
“Trump lacks the foreign policy experience and demeanor needed to be commander in chief”, writes Suprun, taking particular issue with the president-elect’s pick of retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn as his national security adviser. Trump’s business dealings might pose unacceptable conflicts of interest, Suprun adds — a problem that could seem him ‘impeached in his first year given his dismissive responses.”
The Electoral College is constitutionally required to convene before the results of the Nov. 8 presidential election are official. Usually these gatherings amount to nothing more than a rubber stamp, but this year electors have threatened to flee in record numbers. Twenty-six states, a group that does not include Texas, bind their electors to select the winner of the popular vote.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Dec 5, 2016.