Elections

Much Of Bush World Is Lined Up Against Trump — And Many Are Supporting Clinton

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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Several former George W. Bush administration senior officials and donors to the 43rd president and his brother Jeb have lined up against Donald Trump, with several stating they’ll back Hillary Clinton instead.

The Bush foreign policy establishment is firmly against the Republican nominee. Dozens of former Bush 43 officials have signed a letter casting Trump as dangerous to America’s national security. Signees of this letter such as Eliot Cohen, Meghan O’Sullivan, and John Negropronte were all intrinsically involved in the Iraq war.

Cohen has stated that he will likely vote for Clinton. Likewise for Paul Wolfowitz, one of the biggest cheerleaders of the Iraq War. Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state under George W. Bush, has also endorsed Clinton.

“He doesn’t appear to be a Republican, he doesn’t appear to want to learn about issues,” Armitage told Politico. “So, I’m going to vote for Mrs. Clinton.”

“Most Washington establishment Republicans have views much closer aligned with Washington Democrats than with Republican voters,” a former senior official in the George W. Bush administration told The Daily Caller. “On the national security side this phenomena is even more pronounced. The majority of the Republican national security policy people I’ve met are really liberal on domestic matters. There is some genuine concern with Trump’s character and demeanor within this group but at least as much of the shift to Clinton is reflective of these people’s views being closer to Hillary Clinton’s than to most Republicans.”

James Clad, who served as former deputy assistant secretary of defense under President George W.Bush, essentially confirmed this in an August statement announcing his support for Clinton.

“For Republicans and Democrats alike, everything in national security requires clarity and steadiness, whether managing nuclear weapons or balancing great power rivalries. Never losing sight of the national interest is key – a discipline which Secretary Clinton possesses in full measure,” Clad said.

Clad is a member of an organization called Republicans for Clinton 2016, which features several former Bush foreign policy officials or others that have decided to buck their own party’s nominee.

Outside of administration officials, several prominent supporters of President George W. Bush and his brother Jeb have also publicly announced their support for Clinton.

Mike Fernandez, a Miami billionaire and top donor to Jeb, announced his support for Clinton this past week in a Miami Herald op-ed. He wrote, “I take my civic responsibilities very seriously. None more so than the solemn duty to elect the president of our country. Donald Trump is neither representative of our values nor qualified to lead the nation.”

Fernandez ran advertisements attacking Trump in December which compared the Republican nominee to Adolf Hitler.

Meg Whitman, president and CEO of HP and a longtime GOP donor, is also backing Clinton. She has given to Hillary’s campaign and even campaigned for her at a Denver event.

Some donors like Paul Singer haven’t publicly backed Clinton but have spent millions on anti-Trump efforts.

Trump spent much of the Republican primaries attacking large donors and President Bush’s foreign policy.

When booed at one debate, Trump pointed to the audience and said they are all Jeb’s “donors and special interests.” At another debate, he called the War in Iraq a “big fat mistake.”