title:  Former Republican Senator Endorses Hillary Clinton After Orlando Shooting
text: After the horrific attacks that claimed 50 lives and wounded 53 others in Orlando, the nation was given two options: a leader who would respond with swift, collected action, or a reality TV host whose answer is (again) to ban all Muslims.Well that was enough for one former Republican Senator. After listening to the two different candidates, Larry Pressler, who served in the United States Senate from South Dakota for 18 years, decided he would be endorsing Hillary Clinton for the presidency.The moderate Republican, who lost reelection to Democrat Tim Johnson, arrived at the decision after coming to the conclusion that the United States need complete universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons after the shooting. He was even shocked at himself for endorsing Clinton:I can t believe I m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am. This morning I woke up and told my wife,  Did I really do that?  But I did. If someone had told be 10 years ago I would do this, I wouldn t have believed them.Pressler slammed Donald Trump for his Nazi German rhetoric and the Republican Party over stonewalling gun control conversations, saying the party is disenfranchising him and other Republicans who want to see change.We need to go the route of more gun control as a result of Orlando and all the other shootings that have occurred. But it s almost as though Republicans are saying gun control shouldn t be part of the conversation at all   This election is starting to sound like the German elections in the late 1920s. This is a very dangerous national conversation we re slipping into.Pressler, a Mormon, also says Trump is making Mormons uneasy over his rhetoric, and says he knows all too well what religion persecution brings.Republicans have lost another of their own due to Trump s dangerous demagoguery, and more will certainly follow. Congratulations, NRA, you re helping gun-weary Republicans see the light of your evils and manipulation.Featured image via Amy Sussman/Getty Images