In June of this year, retired U.S. Army Colonel Peter Mansoor, a lifelong Republican, stunned the nation during an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN when he announced that he would be voting for Hillary Clinton. Why? Because, in his own words, “Donald Trump is not fit to be President.”
He added:
“[Trump] would be a dangerous person in that office…he would alienate many of America’s long-standing allies, can’t be trusted on the nuclear trigger, lacks character — and the foundation of knowledge necessary to be an effective president.”
Mansoor also added that Trump “opposes free trade among conservative economics — and he would diminish the moral standing in the world with his stance on Muslims and Mexicans and women.”
It’s something that most of us have known practically since The Donald threw his hat into the ring last summer. What is interesting, however, is that many prominent Republicans have figured this out too – and they are switching their vote to Hillary Clinton.
Among the defectors is Sally Bradshaw who until recently was a top adviser to former Presidential candidate Jeb Bush. This year, Bradshaw switched her voter registration from Republican to Unaffiliated. A GOP stalwart since working on George H.W. Bush’s campaign in 1988, Bradshaw told CNN,
“This is a time when country has to take priority over political parties…as much as I don’t want another four years of Obama’s policies, I can’t look my children in the eye and tell them I voted for Donald Trump. I can’t tell them to love their neighbor and treat others the way they wanted to be treated, and then vote for Donald Trump. I won’t do it.”
Another prominent Republican who recently announced his support for Clinton is U.S. Representative Richard Hanna of New York. Hanna’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton comes in the wake of Trump’s recent comments about an American Muslim family, whose son, U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, was killed in action in Iraq in 2004. Hanna was “stunned by the callousness of his comments,” calling Trump a “national embarrassment.”
He acknowledges that while he disagrees with Clinton on a number of issues, he will be voting for the Democratic candidate.
“[Hillary Clinton] stands and has stood for causes bigger than herself for a lifetime…that matters.”
Representative Hanna is being joined by GOP House colleague Charles Dent of Pennsylvania, who describes Trump’s ongoing racist and misogynistic rhetoric as “incendiary.” Dent says Trump’s “lack of policy specifics and, frankly, the lack of policy knowledge” makes him unqualified to hold office. Though Dent won’t be voting for Trump, he says he refuses to vote for Clinton as well, saying he will write in a candidate instead.
Trump has attacked prominent members of the Republican party, refusing to endorse Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan and Arizona Senator John McCain in their bids for re-election. Last month, Trump angered veterans by belittling McCain for his war record.
And what of Trump’s fellow businessmen and women? He’s losing them as well. Meg Whitman, an executive at Hewlett-Packard, has been a loyal Republican all her adult life and has helped raise millions of dollars for GOP candidates. This year however, she’ll be voting for Hillary.
Calling Trump a “dishonest demagogue” who would be taking the U.S. “on a very dangerous journey,” Whitman told the New York Times that she will be supporting Clinton, both politically and monetarily – and will attempt to convince her fellow Republicans to do the same.
Trump’s fellow billionaire investor Warren Buffett has also become increasingly vocal in his criticism of Trump. In 1995, Buffett pointed out that anyone who invested in Trump’s Atlantic City hotels at the time was making a bad move – a prediction that came true. So much for the argument that Trump’s “business experience” makes him qualified to run the country. But what Buffett finds outrageous is Trump’s claims that he has made “sacrifices” through his “hard work” in real estate development.
Referring to Trump’s recent remarks about the late Captain Khan, who died in the line of duty, Buffett said, “How in the world can you stand up to a couple of parents who lost a son and talk about sacrificing because you were building a bunch of buildings?” Buffett is also calling Trump out on his refusal to release his tax returns, questioning what he’s trying to hide from his supporters and accusing him of deceiving his supporters over his business record.
Buffett has endorsed Clinton and has spoken at one of her rallies. Buffett promised that he intends to not only vote for Clinton in November, rain or shine, but that he will be taking at least 10 other people to the polls with him – that’s how anti-Trump this billionaire has become.
It’s no small wonder that Trump’s own party – the Establishment of which was never all that enthusiastic about his candidacy to begin with – is increasingly turning against him. Meg Whitman put it eloquently when she said that it is time for the GOP “to put country first before party.”
We at The Ring of Fire don’t agree with Republicans and conservatives on very many issues – but we can certainly agree on that much.
