Trump brands 'overrated' Colin Powell a warmonger after ex-Secretary of State slams president as dangerous & unconstitutional
President Donald Trump has ridiculed Bush-era Secretary of State Colin Powell, calling him a “real stiff” responsible for the “disastrous Middle East Wars,” after Powell joined a group of military officials in criticizing Trump.
Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Powell accused Trump of drifting “away from” the Constitution, after the president threatened to deploy the US military to quell violent unrest in the US’ major cities. Powell’s criticism echoes the words of a number of former military personnel, including former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who compared Trump to Hitler in a diatribe published last week by the Atlantic.
“We have a Constitution and we have to follow that Constitution and the President has drifted away from it,” Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell says he agrees with fellow former generals who have condemned President Trump’s actions against protesters. #CNNSOTUpic.twitter.com/Uni950ct8i
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) June 7, 2020
Calling Powell “highly overrated,” Trump took to Twitter to list his accomplishments.
Somebody please tell highly overrated Colin Powell that I will have gotten almost 300 Federal Judges approved (a record), Two Great Supreme Court Justices, rebuilt our once depleted Military, Choice for Vets, Biggest Ever Tax & Regulation Cuts, Saved Healthcare & 2A, & much more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2020
But perhaps Powell’s most pointed insult was his announcement that he – a Republican – would be voting for Democratic candidate Joe Biden in this November’s election.
“Colin Powell, a real stiff who was very responsible for getting us into the disastrous Middle East Wars, just announced he will be voting for another stiff, Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump tweeted. “Didn’t Powell say that Iraq had ‘weapons of mass destruction?’ They didn’t, but off we went to WAR!”
Colin Powell, a real stiff who was very responsible for getting us into the disastrous Middle East Wars, just announced he will be voting for another stiff, Sleepy Joe Biden. Didn’t Powell say that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction?” They didn’t, but off we went to WAR!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2020
While Powell now chides Trump for his supposed disregard for the Constitution, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 is considered by many legal scholars to have been unconstitutional. In the run-up to the invasion, Powell lied to the United Nations about Saddam Hussein’s military threat, claiming there was “no doubt” that the Iraqi dictator had biological weapons and was working towards nuclear arms.
These statements were untrue, and nearly two decades later, the war in Iraq has cost the US almost two trillion dollars, on top of the thousands and thousands of people killed and wounded.
Without a trace of irony, Powell told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that Trump “lies all the time.”
The spat between Powell and Trump is an unsurprising development. Planting himself firmly in the ‘Never Trump’ camp of the GOP in 2016, Powell called Trump a “national disgrace” and a “racist,” and voted for Hillary Clinton. Four years later, his opinion hasn’t budged, and the staunch Republican is once again planning to vote Democrat.
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