The unravelling of Republican Party continued unabated as a sitting Senator and 50 security and foreign policy experts affiliated to the Party came out openly in opposing its presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Senator Susan Collins from Maine and the group of experts, some of them former Cabinet members, made similar arguments on Monday — a Trump presidency will make the world more dangerous and America less secure.
Mr. Trump hit back, telling that these experts were the architects of the disastrous U.S. policies that had triggered chaos in West Asia. As the open disapproval by the party’s entrenched policy veterans makes headlines, it may also give fillip to Mr. Trump’s claim that he is up against the establishment that comprises special interest groups and lobbyists.
Senator’s opposition
In an Op-Ed piece in The Washington Post, Senator Collins said: “I am also deeply concerned that Mr. Trump’s lack of self-restraint and his barrage of ill-informed comments would make an already perilous world even more so… Mr. Trump’s tendency to lash out when challenged further escalates the possibility of disputes spinning dangerously out of control.”
Ms. Collins, the first sitting Republican Senator to oppose the party’s presidential candidate, reportedly has a good working relationship with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The Senator said she would, however, continue to work for party’s Congressional candidates.
The group of experts said Mr. Trump “lacks the character, values and experience” to be President and “would put at risk our country’s national security and well being. He “would be the most reckless President in American history,” the signatories said. “None of us will vote for Donald Trump.”
The list of signatories — who have worked under Republican Presidents, from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush — includes former CIA and National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden; former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte; former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman; and former Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill. While foreign policy experts of all hues have opposed Mr. Trump in the past, this group is the most formidable one so far.
Mr. Trump — who has repeatedly blamed George W. Bush’s foreign policy measures for instability in the world — reiterated the same line. He said the experts are “the ones the American people should look to for answers on why the world is a mess, and we thank them for coming forward so everyone in the country knows who deserves the blame for making the world such a dangerous place”. He also said that the GOP experts were “nothing more than the failed Washington elite looking to hold onto their power”.
Mr. Trump said his campaign is “one that is not run by a ruling family dynasty” and that “It’s an America first vision that stands up to foreign dictators instead of taking money from them, seeks peace over war, rebuilds our military and makes other countries pay their fair share for their protection.”
