George Bush, Colin Powell, and Mitt Romney Say They Won’t Support President Trump but They Find No One Cares
Posted at 1:30 pm on June 07, 2020 by streiff
Share Tweet
AP featured image
FILE – In this Dec. 1, 2010 file photo, former Secretary of State Colin Powell meets with President Barack Obama, in the Oval Office at the White in Washington. Powell is declining to renew the endorsement he gave Barack Obama four years ago, when he called Obama “a transformational figure.” Pressed in a network interview to say whether he’s backing Obama, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff demurred Tuesday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the kind when you wake up in the morning, roll out of bed and the first thought that came to your mind is “I wonder what Mitt Romney and Colin Powell would want me to do today?” I didn’t think so. But, because the New York Times doesn’t believe in individuals, it believes in groups, and groups must have leaders (every time I read ‘black leaders’ and ‘Evangelical leaders’ I want to throw up, the black folks and the Evangelicals in my circle of acquaintances and friends and family don’t have leaders, they make up their own minds), it seems to think that it has stumbled upon a key weakness for President Trump in 2020.
It was one thing in 2016 for top Republicans to take a stand against Donald J. Trump for president: He wasn’t likely to win anyway, the thinking went, and there was no ongoing conservative governing agenda that would be endangered.
The 2020 campaign is different: Opposing the sitting president of your own party means putting policy priorities at risk, in this case appointing conservative judges, sustaining business-friendly regulations and cutting taxes — as well as incurring the volcanic wrath of Mr. Trump.
But, far sooner than they expected, growing numbers of prominent Republicans are debating how far to go in revealing that they won’t back his re-election — or might even vote for Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee. They’re feeling a fresh urgency because of Mr. Trump’s incendiary response to the protests of police brutality, atop his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private discussions.
Former President George W. Bush won’t support the re-election of Mr. Trump, and Jeb Bush isn’t sure how he’ll vote, say people familiar with their thinking. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah won’t back Mr. Trump and is deliberating whether to again write in his wife, Ann, or cast another ballot this November. Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain, is almost certain to support Mr. Biden but is unsure how public to be about it because one of her sons is eying a run for office.
And former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced on Sunday that he will vote for Mr. Biden, telling CNN that Mr. Trump “lies about things” and Republicans in Congress won’t hold him accountable. Mr. Powell, who voted for former President Barack Obama as well as Hillary Clinton, said he was close to Mr. Biden politically and socially and had worked with him for more than 35 years. “I’ll be voting for him,” he said.