In an interesting turn of events this past week, Rep. Peter Roskam publicly backed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, then claimed he was undecided about the race and ultimately returned to backing the divisive billionaire.
Last week, Roskam claimed the election was a “binary choice” and pledged his support to Trump in an interview with the Daily Herald editorial board in which he referred to the real estate magnate as a “wild card.” However, Roskam spokesman David Pasch would not answer questions Mondays about whether the Republican would still vote for Trump in November, according to the Daily Herald.
In light of the “Trump tapes” imbroglio, Roskam said in a statement Monday that Trump has “work to do” to show he has sincerely changed since the infamous 2005 “hot mic” interview. A slew of top Republican leaders, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, have pulled their support for their party's nominee following the controversy.
Nevertheless, Pasch emailed the Daily Herald Tuesday, confirming that Roskam would be voting for Trump. Only hours later, he released a statement claiming Roskam was undecided.
Then, Roskam told the Naperville Sun Wednesday that he thinks “we would get a better result in terms of tax reform, regulatory reform and Obamacare repeal and replacement with Donald Trump.
"That said, he’s got some work to do, in terms of communicating and so forth," Roskam added. “But I think we’d be better off with him than with her."
The Roskam campaign did not immediately respond to Ward Room’s request for comment. The congressman faces Democrat Amanda Howland in the November general election.
