Trump “lies about things and he gets away with it because people will not hold him accountable,” the former secretary of state told CNN.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that he will vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election, stating he “cannot in any way” support President Donald Trump’s reelection bid.
“We have a Constitution and we have to follow that Constitution and the president has drifted away from it,” Powell, a Republican, said during an appearance on CNN’s “State Of The Union.”
“I couldn’t vote for him in [2016] and I certainly cannot, in any way, support President Trump this year,” he added.
Asked if he will vote for Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Powell said yes.
“I’m very close to Joe Biden on a social matter and on a political matter,” Powell said. “I’ve worked with him for 35, 40 years. And he is now the candidate. And I will be voting for him.”
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says he will be voting for former Vice President Joe Biden. “I certainly cannot, in any way, support President Trump this year.” #CNNSOTU
Powell worked in four presidential administrations, serving most recently as secretary of state under President George W. Bush. Previously, he served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and as national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan.
On Sunday, he slammed Congress for failing to hold Trump accountable for his constant lying.
“He lies about things, and he gets away with it because people will not hold him accountable,” Powell said. “While we’re watching him, we need to watch our Congress.”
Powell and others in the George W. Bush administration lied extensively while making the case for war in Iraq in the early 2000s, fabricating “evidence” of the existence of weapons of mass destruction within the country.
State of the Union✔@CNNSotu
“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. #CNNSOTU
Following Powell’s interview Sunday, Trump bashed the former secretary of state as “a real stiff who was very responsible for getting us into the disastrous Middle East Wars.”
Several other high-profile Republicans have reportedly signaled they will not vote for Trump in November, including George W. Bush, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah and Cindy McCain, widow of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.
