Today, former Secretary of State Colin Powell joined the ranks of notable Republicans speaking openly against President Donald J. Trump in perhaps one of the most scathing criticisms of his tumultuous presidency.
Other Republicans who are leaving partisan politics behind include Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, former Chief of Staff John Kelly, Lieutenant General John Allen, former President George W. Bush, former National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and senators Tim Scott (SC), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Mitt Romney (UT).
In an interview with journalist Jake Tapper this morning on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Powell spoke candidly about the damage being done both nationally and internationally by this administration.
[L]ook at what he has done to divide us.… let’s put up a fence in Mexico.… He is being offensive to our allies. He’s not taking into account what our foreign policy is and how it is being affected by his actions…. I mean, the Republican Party, the President, thought they were sort of immune; they can go say anything they wanted.… He lies about things. And he gets away with it…”
This comes on the heels of a powerful rebuke from Mattis. “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try,” Mattis wrote in The Atlantic. “Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”
On June 4, Tapper also spoke with Allen, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and who had recently written in Foreign Policy:
Asked about this during the interview, Allen explained, “I never believed that the Constitution was under threat until recently. And I have concerns about that. We should all be attentive right now to how the rule of law is being administered in this country.”
