Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says President Donald Trump has “drifted away” from the Constitution and that he cannot support the president in the general election.
“I certainly cannot, in any way, support President Trump this year,” Powell said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“We have a Constitution, and we have to follow that Constitution, and the president has drifted away from it,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says he will be voting for former Vice President Joe Biden. “I certainly cannot, in any way, support President Trump this year.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/jmiUfDPhl1
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) June 7, 2020
Powell also said that he would support former Vice President Joe Biden (D), he said, “I’m very close to Joe Biden in a social matter and in a political matter. I’ve worked with him for 35, 40 years. And he is now the candidate, and I will be voting for him.”
He noted that he did not vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential election either.
Powell’s interview on CNN comes after The New York Times reported that Powell and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) would not be supporting Trump in the election.
Trump responded to Powell’s decision to not support him. In a tweet, Trump wrote, “Somebody please tell highly overrated Colin Powell that I will have gotten almost 300 Federal Judges approved (a record), Two Great Supreme Court Justices, rebuilt our once depleted Military, Choice for Vets, Biggest Ever Tax & Regulation Cuts, Saved Healthcare & 2A, & much more!”
Somebody please tell highly overrated Colin Powell that I will have gotten almost 300 Federal Judges approved (a record), Two Great Supreme Court Justices, rebuilt our once depleted Military, Choice for Vets, Biggest Ever Tax & Regulation Cuts, Saved Healthcare & 2A, & much more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2020
Additionally, Powell blasted some Republican senators who did not respond to the decision to clear protesters that had gathered in front of the White House.
Critics of Trump said that the protesters were pushed back so that he could have a photo-op, but Attorney General William Barr denied that was the case.
“I did not know that [Trump] was going to do that until later in the day after our plans were well underway to move the perimeter,” Barr said during a press conference on Thursday.
He added, “So there was no correlation between our tactical plan of moving the perimeter out by one block and the president’s going over to the church.”
