Fifty of the nation’s most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter declaring that Donald J. Trump “lacks the character, values and experience” to be president and “would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being.”
Mr. Trump, the officials warn, “would be the most reckless president in American history.”
The letter says Mr. Trump would weaken the United States’ moral authority and questions his knowledge of and belief in the Constitution. It says he has “demonstrated repeatedly that he has little understanding” of the nation’s “vital national interests, its complex diplomatic challenges, its indispensable alliances and the democratic values” on which American policy should be based. And it laments that “Mr. Trump has shown no interest in educating himself.”The signees include former CIA and NSA Director Gen. Michael Hayden, former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, and Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, former Secretaries of Homeland Security. We eagerly await Rump's Tweetstorm.
Sad!
This follows last March's open letter by 75 Republican foreign policy and national security officials which also called Rump unfit, and which led to him losing the Republican presidential nomination -- oops, short circuit!
We'll see if this provides any cover for other "establishment" Republicans to put country before party and speak out on the existential threat Rump poses. (Side bet: we're guessing this will be a one- or two- day event because the corporate media will either soft pedal or completely ignore it.)
UPDATE: As Tom noted in the comments, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said this in an op/ed in the
I will not be voting for Donald Trump for president. This is not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican. But Donald Trump does not reflect historical Republican values nor the inclusive approach to governing that is critical to healing the divisions in our country. [snip]
My conclusion about Mr. Trump’s unsuitability for office is based on his disregard for the precept of treating others with respect, an idea that should transcend politics. Instead, he opts to mock the vulnerable and inflame prejudices by attacking ethnic and religious minorities. Three incidents in particular have led me to the inescapable conclusion that Mr. Trump lacks the temperament, self-discipline and judgment required to be president.That's nice, except let's not pretend Rump "does not reflect historical Republican values" (unless you're going waaay back in history to President Lincoln). But, as for "Republican values" of the past 40 years, Rump's the perfect distillation.
