This series lists prominent Republicans or former senior staffers now openly dissing the Donald. Perfect for posting on Russian pro-Trump facebook pages.
Read part one here, two here, three here, four here, five here, six here, seven here, eight here, nine here and part ten here. This is part eleven. Is there no end to this series?
Click on the name for the source of the quote.
62. Kristopher Purcell, staffer in G W Bush’s White House and State Department:
“After seeing three and a half years of chaos and incompetence and division, a lot of people have been pushed to say, ‘We have got to do something else” ... This is a one-issue election. ‘Are you for Donald Trump, or are you for America’?” [5 July 2020]
63. Marty McBride, lifelong Republican, former naval officer and FBI special agent:
“Whether Democrat or Republican I was always able to respect those who held the office of the president – until 2016 when Donald Trump was elected. His utter disregard for the constitution and those who support him led me to question what it was I was serving for thirty years.” [6 August 2020]
64. Brett McGurk, Trump’s former special envoy on ISIS:
“Donald Trump is not a commander-in-chief. He makes impulsive decisions with no knowledge or deliberation. He sends military personnel into harm’s way with no backing. He blusters and then leaves our allies exposed when adversaries call his bluff or he confronts a hard phone call.” [7 October 2019]
65. Michael Bloomberg, former Republican mayor of New York:
"Behind your back they [mutual acquaintances in New York] laugh at you & call you [Trump] a carnival barking clown. They know you inherited a fortune & squandered it with stupid deals and incompetence.” [14 February 2020]
66. Larry Pressler, decorated war hero, former Republican senator for South Dakota:
“The president’s decision to use executive power to redistribute appropriations for other purposes will backfire ... He will be under constant fire for violating the Constitution. He will be better off acknowledging that the branches of government occasionally have to accept the other’s ideas and move forward. But that is very hard for President Trump and could be his Achilles' heel.” [23 February 2019]
67. Rex Tillerson, Trump’s first secretary of state:
“So often, the President would say, ‘Here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it,’ and I would have to say to him, ‘Mr. President, I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law. I didn’t know how to conduct my affairs with him any other way than in a very straightforward fashion. I think he grew tired of me being the guy every day that told him you can’t do that.” [6 December 2018]
68. Lance from Arizona:
"I’m a lifelong Republican. I am ashamed by what our president has done to our country ... For us to have a president who does not only lead us domestically but refuses to lead us internationally, is exactly the opposite of what we have been about since the beginning. It breaks my heart.” [30 May 2020]
And from the archives:
69. Sally Bradshaw, veteran Republican operative, Jeb Bush adviser, co-author of the ‘GOP autopsy’ after the 2012 defeat:
“Ultimately, I could not abide the hateful rhetoric of Donald Trump and his complete lack of principles and conservative philosophy ... Trump has taken the GOP in another direction, and too many Republicans are standing by and looking the other way.” [9 March 2016]
To be continued ...
Readers’ tips in the comments are invited.