Rep. Mac Thornberry has previously expressed wariness of Donald Trump's bid. | AP Photo House Armed Services chairman: 'I've got concerns' about Trump

Hours before Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were set to take the stage of the Commander in Chief Forum to answer questions about their national security bona fides, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee showed even more reluctance to back his party's nominee.

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), who has previously expressed wariness of Trump's bid, would not specifically answer whether he had confidence in the businessman's abilities to be commander in chief during an MSNBC interview Wednesday afternoon. The exchange was reminiscent of one earlier in the day on the same network, no less, with Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). (The forum is airing live on NBC and will be simulcast on MSNBC.)


Asked whether he had confidence in his party's nominee, Thornberry instead responded that both Trump and Clinton have prompted concerns from " a number of national security folks," adding, "that's part of the reason that tonight is important, and the next two months is important as we listen to what they would do as far as our position in the world and especially with regard to the United States military."

The most important question, Thornberry continued, is "what would you do specifically to strengthen the U.S. military, which is the most important force for good in the world."

MSNBC's Hallie Jackson pressed further on whether Thornberry is someone who has the concerns he referenced moments earlier, to which Thornberry responded, "Sure. I've got concerns about what both candidates have said."

Thornberry remarked upon a "number of things" that "both candidates have said that go against the consensus of opinion since World War II."

"And so look, it's no surprise that much of the country has concerns about these two candidates, and part of the reason they have concerns is there's been lots of this back and forth name-calling, I hope tonight is an opportunity to be specific about the substantive issues related to national security," Thornberry said. "And I think a lot of folks in the country are interested in what these candidates have to say about would you — what would you do about the disturbing increase and accidents among our military? Where they're not getting the training, not having the maintenance of aircraft, for example, that they need to have. Those are the kinds of substantive issues that need to be addressed, instead what a lot of us have heard is lots of back and forth calling each other names. These issues are life and death. They're more serious than that."

Addressing another question about whether Trump's military spending plan could work, including ending the defense sequester, Thornberry remarked upon the considerable balance of the budget that he would still have to reform.

"No president can solve these things on their own. Any president has to work with Congress. And again, that's the key question, those are the key questions that need to be asked," Thornberry said. "What would you do working with Congress to ensure, for example, that the military gets the full pay raise to which they are entitled by law instead of what President Obama has done, which is to deny them the full pay raise that is required by law? And what would you do, working with Congress, to ensure that the military is not used as a political football like they were last year where the military funding bill was vetoed, not because of anything that was in it, but just as leverage to try to force more spending on domestic programs? So there are some really substantive issues based on the legacy of this administration that both candidates need to answer."

As far as Thornberry's absence at the Republican National Convention and the lack of endorsement for Trump, the chairman noted that he has attended about half of the conventions since he has been in office and was visiting troops that week in July.

"And partly, I'm concerned that they understand that with all the rhetoric going back and forth in the presidential campaign, that they know members of both parties support our troops who are risking their lives every day to defend us," Thornberry said of the troops. "That's the key message that needs to come out — I know it's tempting to get with the hype and the name calling and all of that sort of stuff, but there are serious life and death issues here based on national security and the future of the world and we need to have a more serious substantive conversation about those."

Asked whether the "name-calling from Donald Trump" is "part of the reason" why he is not endorsing, Thornberry again sought to pivot away from emphasizing a particular candidate.

"What I said was I'm concerned about the name-calling throughout the campaign, and that there are serious substantive issues that I hope will come out tonight and over the next two months related to national security," he said. "You know, national security is a key concern for voters throughout the country. So I think a lot of voters are anxious to hear serious substantive issues. And answers."