Fake news or about-face? Bolton DENIES he’s voting for Biden after the Telegraph reports him saying so in interview

Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has refuted a report by the Telegraph that he plans to cast his ballot for Joe Biden, the Democrat rival of his former boss, as he continues to tout his tell-all book in the media.

Bolton, who has been on a busy media tour, giving out “exclusive” interviews to an array of outlets ahead of his much-publicized book’s release, was reported by the Daily Telegraph on Sunday as saying that he is considering switching parties, at least in terms of voting in the 2020 presidential election.

The article penned by the Telegraph’s Con Coughlin and published on Sunday afternoon says that, while Bolton “is not someone who normally considers voting Democrat,” so profound is his “disaffection with Mr. Trump’s presidency” that voting blue is “precisely how he intends to cast his vote in November’s US presidential election.”

Rather than voting for the president he served for 17 months as National Security Advisor until his resignation last year, Mr Bolton says he intends to vote for Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate

© The Telegraph

While Coughlin never quotes Bolton directly in his piece, based upon the war hawk’s “exclusive interview” with the newspaper, the journalist appears to have no doubts about Bolton’s intentions, writing further that “speaking exclusively to the Daily Telegraph... Mr Bolton insisted that, by casting his vote for Mr Biden, he was not betraying his Republican roots because he did not believe that Mr Trump represented the party’s cause.”

Less than an hour after the Telegraph published its scoop, however, Bolton’s spokesperson denied that the conservative hardliner had ever entertained the thought of switching his party allegiance, even for the sake of ousting Trump from the office.

"This statement is incorrect. The Ambassador never said he planned to vote for Joe Biden," Bolton’s spokeswoman, Sarah Tinsley, told CNN, adding that Trump was not among Bolton’s picks either. She said that the Telegraph was asked to amend their story, which they still have not done at the time of writing.

In an interview with ABC, aired after the Telegraph published its piece, Bolton said that he was “certainly not going to vote for Joe Biden,” adding that he would “figure out a conservative Republican to vote in.”

While the Telegraph has yet to set the record straight over its bombshell (or misfire, depending on what Bolton actually told the outlet), the former Trump adviser’s refusal to back Biden has drawn backlash from the liberal crowd, which has struggled to fully embrace Bolton since his decision not to testify during the impeachment trial.

Many said that Bolton voting for any “conservative Republican” other than Trump would effectively mean that he is still voting for Trump.

“The fact Bolton can't even publicly commit to voting for Biden, confirms he is still a coward and still not acting in the best interests of the country. Please don't buy his book on Tuesday,” one commenter said.

“Another ‘Jimmy Clean Hands’ who wants other voters to do the heavy lifting,” another quipped.

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