Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus/Reuters
Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) was once so eager to renounce his endorsement of Donald Trump that he was willing to put up with jeering from a crowd of his own supporters. That boldness appears to have disappeared. Following the release of audio tapes from 2005 revealing Trump bragging about groping women, Heck told a booing crowd, “I can no longer look past the pattern of behavior and comments that have been made by Donald Trump. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience continue to support Donald Trump.” However, one month later, during a Wednesday interview with Nevada’s News3LV, as the GOP nominee’s polling seems to have risen, the U.S. Senate candidate did an about-face. Asked whether the real-estate mogul is qualified to be president, Heck said, “Well, according to our Constitution he is.” Pressed for more direct answers, Heck continued to be mealy mouthed, telling the news outlet: “I think he won our nomination through a very intensive primary process and caucus process, and the Republican voters decided that they wanted him as their nominee. So... then you’re qualified to be president.” Asked whether he views Trump as having the temperament to be in charge of the U.S. military, Heck said, “I think whomever the next commander in chief is, they’re going to need to surround themselves with military leaders... [and] I think that Donald will do that. He certainly has a lot of military leaders that have signed on as his advisers.”