Colin Powell endorses Joe Biden for president
Colin Powell, a former US secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday that he would vote for Joe Biden in November because President Donald Trump has ‘‘drifted away’’ from the Constitution, is a chronic liar and is ‘‘dangerous to our country’’.
In a blistering interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Powell added his voice to a string of retired generals, admirals and Defence Department chiefs who have denounced Trump since his threats to use troops to break up nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
‘‘We have a constitution,’’ Powell said. ‘‘And we have to follow that constitution. And the President has drifted away from it. I’m so proud of what these generals and admirals have done, and others have done.’’
He called Trump a liar who has harmed America’s moral authority. ‘‘He lies about things. And he gets away with it because people will not hold him accountable,’’ said Powell, who served in former president George W Bush’s cabinet.
Powell also rebuked Republicans who have been silent about
Trump’s shortcomings and urged the American people to eject the incumbent from office.
Shortly after Powell went off the air, the President tweeted a stinging critique of him. ‘‘Colin Powell, a real stiff who was very responsible for getting us into the disastrous Middle East Wars, just announced he will be voting for another stiff, Sleepy Joe Biden. Didn’t Powell say that Iraq had ‘weapons of mass destruction?’ They didn’t, but off we went to WAR!’’ – The Washington Post