Former Sen. Mattingly endorses Trump for president

BRUNSWICK (TNS) — A former United States Senator from Brunswick says he will be endorsing Donald Trump for president.

Mack Mattingly, who was the first Republican to be elected statewide in Georgia since Reconstruction, said Monday in a statement that he feels Trump will provide the conservative leadership the nation is lacking.

The longtime senator also pointed out many similarities the two share. Like Trump, Mattingly came to public office from the private sector, something he feels will serve the current GOP favorite well in November.

“I know what it is like to come from the private sector with everyone saying you can’t win and defeat a political dynasty and establishment. And I believe Donald Trump can do the same thing this year,” the former senator, ambassador and assistant secretary of NATO said.

Mattingly is confident that his party will win the fall’s general election. He is quick to quiet naysayers within the party when it comes to supporting Trump, noting that the candidate is getting many of the same critiques Ronald Reagan had in the 1980s.

“First, I was running for the U.S. Senate in the same year that Ronald Reagan was running for president in 1980. While they were or are distinctly different people, I hear many of the same arguments about Trump now that I heard about Reagan in 1980,” he said.

“His critics tried to portray Ronald Reagan as an intemperate ‘cowboy’ who would ‘push the nuclear button’ at a moment’s notice. So now I hear the same thing about Donald Trump and just roll my eyes.”

Mattingly feels the party should unify, rather than create divisions. That is particularly true when it comes to creating a third party option to vote for in November, something he staunchly opposes.

“I am deeply disappointed in some former elected officials who I have supported in the past if they are truly involved in some silly third party effort. When it comes to saying who is a ‘real Republican’ and ‘a real conservative’ I think I’ve earned my stripes and what I think they are reportedly doing is counterproductive,” he said.

Mattingly isn’t the only Republican leader to endorse the candidate, shunning an outside or third party candidate. Former Vice President Dan Quayle and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich have also given their support to the businessman turned presumptive GOP nominee. Mattingly’s own protégé, and former Georgia GOP Congressman Jack Kingston, is also firmly behind Trump.

Like his peers, Mattingly feels that the public’s general dissatisfaction with the establishment will fuel a Trump victory in the fall.

“Reagan’s victory in 1980 had more to do about total disgust by the voters over Washington D.C., and a dislike for their establishment. The establishment demeaned both Reagan and me for our proposed cut in the marginal tax rates. Some in the GOP establishment of that era called it ‘voodoo economics,’” he said.

“They were wrong then and they are wrong now. Donald Trump meets every test for me and my wife Leslie and he can win in November,” Mattingly said.