Colin Powell
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell blasted President Donald Trump on Sunday, as a number of military officials criticize Trump’s threats to deploy active military force on protesting citizens.
“We have a Constitution. And we have to follow that Constitution,” Powell said in his interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. “And the president has drifted away from it.”
Powell said, that the George Floyd protests, that have been going on across the country for more than a week, was “the most massive protest movement” he has seen. He said he was “very happy” with other military leaders, including Retired General John Allen, who condemned Trump’s calls to deploy the active military force to suppress the protesting citizens.
Allen earlier told CNN: “I never believed that the Constitution was under threat until recently. And I have concerns about that. We should all be attentive right now to how the rule of law is being administered in this country.”
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Trump’s former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement that deploying military force on the protesting civilians a would result in a “false conflict” between the military and citizens.
Powell condemned Trump for criticizing everyone who disagreed with him, saying it was “dangerous” for the U.S. democracy. He also said that Trump “lies all the time.”
“The one word I have to use — with respect to what he’s been doing for the last several years — is a word I would never have used before and I never would have used with any of the four presidents I have worked for: He lies. He lies about things. And he gets away with it, because people will not hold him accountable,” said Powell.
Powell, who didn’t vote for Trump back in 2016, said he will not be voting for him in 2020 either, saying he will be voting for Joe Biden.
Trump posted a series of tweets, in response to Powell’s interview, calling him “a real stiff” and accusing him of getting America into “the disastrous Middle East Wars.”
Meanwhile, Biden thanked Powell for his “support” in his tweets.
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