This series tracks Republicans and, particularly, those in Trump’s inner circle now highly critical of him. Read part one here. (Click on the name for the source).
10. John Kelly, former marine general, Trump’s chief of staff 2017-19
“I think an awful big concern is that the tribal thing has gotten out of hand ... We don't talk to each other. We yell at each other. I think we need to look harder at who we elect. I think we should look at people that are running for office and put them through the filter: What is their character like? What are their ethics?”
11. General Jim Mattis, Trump’s defense secretary 2017-19
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort ... three years without mature leadership.”
12. Bob Inglis, former Republican representative for South Carolina
President Donald Trump “demeans daily the office of the president of the United States.”
13. Mia Love, former Republican representative for Utah
“These comments [from Donald Trump] shine a spotlight on the problems Washington politicians have with minorities and black Americans — it’s transactional. It’s not personal. We feel like politicians claim they know what’s best for us from a safe distance yet they’re never willing to take us home.”
14. Eliot A. Cohen, State Department counselor for George W Bush
“The president presents his cynicism and that of his acting chief of staff and his erratic personal lawyer as tough-guy street smarts. It’s not. Their cynicism is the product of a peculiar and not particularly savory business microclimate in New York, and his own disordered personality. It has yielded nothing in foreign affairs beyond embarrassingly failed negotiations with North Korea, a trade war with China, betrayal of allies in the Middle East, and a cold war with Iran.”
15. Mary L Trump, psychologist and Donald Trump’s niece
"He is utterly incapable of leading this country. And it’s dangerous to allow him to do so ... I saw firsthand what focusing on the wrong things, elevating the wrong people can do, the collateral damage that can be done by allowing someone to live their lives without accountability.”
16. Chris Truax, legal advisor for Republicans for the Rule of Law
“Trump is still an extremely dangerous political animal. If there is one thing the Jurassic Park movies have taught us, it’s that living fossils can still do immense damage, even in their death throes.”
17. Zane Clodfelter, Republican candidate in Indiana and newspaper editor
“Sadly, since I voted for number 45 in 2016, all of those promises, all the things that he guaranteed would happen in his term, haven’t happened. I have never felt less safe in the United States than I do right now with him in charge ... Trump has created that negative dialogue [hatred of journalists]. You don’t even have to look at all the other things that he’s lied and spread and tweeted.”
18. Scott from Ohio
“I will not vote for Donald Trump in 2020, and here’s why: first, he’s not a conservative. Truly, looking at his spending, his deficit, his eagerness to use military force against U.S. citizens, even at the price of the first amendment if necessary, these are not conservative values ... Not a conservative, not a leader, not even a nice person.”
To be continued ...
Readers’ tips in the comments are invited.
