Rep. John Katko says he will support President Donald Trump’s bid for a second term in November, marking a dramatic shift for a House Republican who refused to endorse or vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Katko, R-Camillus, said Thursday at an editorial board meeting of Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that he reached his decision after considering Trump’s record as president and the alternative of having a Democrat in the White House.

The third-term congressman said he’s aware that Trump’s non-traditional presidency and actions trouble many voters.

“I understand the concerns about him from a personality standpoint,” Katko said. “I do think at times he shoots from the cuff way too much. But I'm looking at the whole landscape, not just his personality.”

Katko questioned Trump’s fitness for office and called for him to drop out of the presidential race in October 2016 over his vulgar comments about women. Katko wrote in the name of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on his presidential ballot.

“Last time, I had his personality to judge on, and that’s it,” Katko told the editorial board Thursday. “But this time we have to look at what we’ve been able to accomplish under his presidency and balance that against the field on the Democratic side.”

Katko said the president’s economic policies, such as his 2017 law to change the tax code, have helped bring unemployment in Central New York to a nearly 20-year low. He praised Trump’s work to reach a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico, and his ongoing trade war with China.

Katko, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he also believes that Trump has helped make the United States a safer place by building up the military and breaking up the Islamic State’s caliphate that it had carved out of Iraq and Syria.

“So, you balance all of that against what the Democrats want,” Katko said. “The biggest concern I have with the Democratic field is they’ve been pulled far to the left. The Joe Biden that is running for president now is not the Joe Biden I knew and liked. He has grudgingly been pulled to the far left.”

Watch: Katko explains decision to support Trump’s election

Katko’s decision comes as he tries to navigate a minefield regarding Trump and his policies in a district that Hillary Clinton carried in the 2016 presidential election. Katko voted against impeaching Trump last month at the same time he criticized the president’s moves to cut food stamps and raid Defense Department funds to build a border wall.

In 2016, Katko was among about 25 Republicans to win in a district that Clinton carried. Today he is among only three House Republicans who still represent a district that Clinton won. One of the three, Will Hurd of Texas, has decided not to seek a new term this year.

On Thursday, Katko said his support for Trump’s in this year’s election shouldn’t be interpreted as an outright endorsement of his style of governing, or blind support for the president’s policies.

“I definitely am troubled by a lot of his conduct,” Katko said. “But I look at the total record and what the alternative is, and I just feel comfortable with my decision.”

Katko said he didn’t mind last week when he was the only one of five House Republicans in New York to be left off of Trump’s team of honorary campaign co-chairs for the state. He said he wants voters in November to judge him on his record as a congressman, not on his support for Trump.

“I would love for this race to be about me and what I’ve done,” he said. “You can already see the preview on the other side. It’s going to be like, ‘He’s just a sycophant of Trump, and you hate Trump, so therefore hate him.’ ”

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For Katko and Brindisi, Trump is a minefield like few in the House face

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

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