US Electoral 2016 Updates: 50 GOP Heads Say No to Trump
Top Republican leaders say that Trump will be the "most reckless" President of all
Latest US Electoral 2016 updates are in. 50 GOP national security heads say no to Donald Trump. Reports say that these 50 veteran security and foreign policy experts have signed a petition letter denouncing the Republican nominee's candidacy and saying that they will not vote for him.
The petition contains the Republican heads' opinion of what a Trump presidency would become. The leaders were convinced that voting for Donald Trump would be a mistake and they are sure that he would be the "most reckless president" that the country will ever have.
Signatories to the petition letter
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Reports say that the signatories to the letter include Michael Hayden (former Director of the CIA and National Security Agency), John Negroponte (former Director of National Intelligence and Deputy Secretary of State) and Eric Edelman (national adviser for Vice President Dick Cheney). Edelman was with Michele Flournoy, who is rumored to be the considered Secretary of Defense in the Hillary Clinton administration.
Also included in the signatories were Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, both Homeland Security top officials under the Bush administration. Also a part of the petition was Robert Zoellick, the former president of the World Bank, representative for U.S. trade and deputy secretary of state.
Petition letter started with an open letter
The same signatories created an open letter to address Republican voters during the primaries in March. The open letter condemned Trump and said that they will oppose his nomination. During this time, other GOP heads were still in the race. The letter also addressed that many voters were not too sure about Hillary Clinton, but said that Donald Trump was not the answer to America's problems.
The new letter contained warnings about Trump such as the candidate not having the right temperament to rule. It specifically said that the Republican candidate does not want to separate facts from false information and does not encourage conflicting ideas. It also suggested that Trump lacks self-control, does not want to be criticized and has an erratic behavior which has affected the country's allies.
Signatories from high-level positions
The petition letter was drafted by John Bellinger, the former legal adviser to Condoleezza Rice. The letter was edited by the former George H.W. Bush adviser, Bob Blackwill, and former Rice adviser, Eliot Cohen. Bellinger said that they wanted to get the support from people in top-level positions and from those who spent time in the Situation Room. These are people who have experienced working directly with the President. The signatories were also mostly officials who have travelled abroad and have talked with world leaders.
Trump responds to letter
Trump was quick to respond to the petition letter. He criticized the signatories of the letter saying that these are the people to blame for creating a dangerous world. Trump also expressed his gratefulness to the signatories for coming out. He said this has helped the world know who should be blamed.
The Republican candidate also said that the signatories, along with Hillary Clinton, were the ones who made the terrible decisions in invading Iraq. This has allowed Americans to perish in Benghazi and let ISIS come to power.
