Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state during George W. Bush’s first term, has disavowed the Republican party following the raid on the United States Capitol, last week.
When asked by Fareed Zakaria on CNN why the GOP has “refused to condemn him [Donald Trump],” and if the party incited the riots, Powell replied: “They did and that’s why I can no longer call myself a fellow Republican." He continued:
I’m not a fellow of anything right now. I’m just a citizen who has voted Republican, voted Democrat throughout my entire career. And right now I’m just watching my country and not concerned with parties. I do not know how he’s able to attract all these people. They should’ve known better. But they were so taken by their political standing and how none of them wanted to put themselves at political risk, they would not stand up and tell the truth or stand up and criticize him or criticize others. And that’s what we need: We need people who will speak the truth, who will remember that we are here for our fellow citizens, they are here for our country. They are not here simply to be re-elected again. Come on, guys, you can make it in private life if you don’t get re-elected. But right now we need you to be real Americans who we can trust, who will tell the truth, who will argue on the basis of facts and not just argue on the basis of what their primary looks like.
The Capitol Hill riot was held in protest of the 2020 Presidential Election results. The crowd felt the election was stolen from Trump, a theory the President himself has supported.
Powell has also served as the United States National Security Advisor under President Ronald Reagan.
[Via]
