Supporting President Donald Trump while attempting to run for re-election in upstate New York continues to cause difficulty for a Republican congressman.
Rep. John Katko (R-NY) attempted to differentiate his opinions on Trump's personality from his policies during a virtual forum organized by the Black Leadership Coalition, Syracuse.com reported Saturday.
“Of course, Trump is a knucklehead,” Katko said. “And of course, I mean, I don’t like him as a person. I don’t like his rhetoric. I don’t like his lack of discipline. I’m more concerned about your pocketbook. I’m more concerned about your economic opportunity. And I’m more concerned about where we are going as a country.”
In October of 2016, Katko suggested Trump had crossed a line with his "Access Hollywood" comments bragging about sexually assaulting women and should consider dropping out of the race.
"I think Trump should think seriously about doing so," Katko told Syracuse.com following the tape's release. "In my mind, he should. His comments cannot be justified and crosses (sic) every line you can imagine."
"I am certainly not going to vote for him," Katko said Saturday. "It's clear to me that he has not been able to get better at this, and now there's absolutely no way I can support him. I want to make it clear that from the beginning I haven't supported him."
Katko is being challenged by Democrat Dana Balter.
Watch Katko discuss his endorsement of Trump in January:
