As requested by a few posters - including the OP of todays thread; Kamala Harris From Those Who Know Her Best - a counter thread. I thought it would be an enlightening exercise to compare and contrast those who have worked closest to Harris and Trump. Here are just a few thoughts from of the people who worked closest with Trump during his administration. I pulled the quotes from various sources including the Washington Post, Reuters, The Hill, CNN, Fox, Politico and others. Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us." “Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump,” Mattis wrote. “His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice.” Former Chief of Staff John Kelly “What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France. “A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. “There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.” Former Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer “This was a shocking and unprecedented intervention in a low-level review. It was also a reminder that the president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices.” Former National Security Advisor John Bolton Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton excoriated former President Donald Trump as an utterly self-interested man who would punish personal enemies and appease adversaries Russia and China in a new edition of his memoir released on Tuesday. Bolton, who served in Trump's White House in 2018 and 2019, accused the Republican presidential frontrunner of having no political philosophy or coherent policy outlook. If re-elected, Trump could leave the NATO security alliance, curb support to Ukraine despite Russia's 2022 invasion, embolden China to blockade Taiwan and generally pursue isolationism, Bolton warned. "Trump is unfit to be president," Bolton wrote in the new foreword to "The Room Where it Happened," his account of the 17 months he spent as Trump's national security adviser. "If his first four years were bad, a second four will be worse." Former White House Lawyer Ty Cobb “I think you have to take Trump seriously, because he poses the gravest threat to democracy that we’ve ever seen,” Cobb said on “Erin Burnett OutFront.” “I think the, you know, lack of accountability that he desires — which Putin has, the ayatollah has, Xi has — as you as you alluded to, you know, I think that he may want an America that is like that,” Cobb said. Cobb also noted that the founders of the U.S. wanted to ensure “this was not going to be a country where we had a king. This was going to be a country where we had an accountable executive.” Former White House Aide Cassidy Hutchinson “I think that Donald Trump is the most grave threat we will face to our democracy in our lifetime, and potentially in American history,” Hutchinson told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview Tuesday. Former Attorney General Bill Barr Former Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday undermined a key pillar of his old boss’ defense telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Donald Trump “knew well he lost the election.” The former attorney general also described Trump’s alleged actions as “nauseating” and “despicable,” saying on “The Source,” “someone who engaged in that kind of bullying about a process that is fundamental to our system and to our self-government shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.” Former VP Mike Pence Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday said he “cannot in good conscience” endorse presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, a stunning repudiation of his former running mate and the president he served with. “Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. That’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign,” Pence said on Fox News. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson painted a scathing picture of his old boss President Donald Trump as someone who made uninformed decisions that were not based in reality – a stark contrast to Trump’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo, who is heaping praise on the outgoing President in his final days in office. “His understanding of global events, his understanding of global history, his understanding of U.S. history was really limited. It’s really hard to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t even understand the concept for why we’re talking about this,” Tillerson said Tillerson, who was ousted in March 2018, told the magazine, “I used to go into meetings with a list of four to five things I needed to talk to him about, and I quickly learned that if I got to three, it was a home run, and I realized getting two that were meaningful was probably the best objective.” He added that he “started taking charts and pictures with (him) because I found that those seemed to hold his attention better.” Former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper “And yes, I do regard him as a threat to democracy, democracy as we know it, our institutions, our political culture, all those things that make America great and have defined us as, you know, the oldest democracy on this planet.”
Some are malcontents, some are malcontent nobodies, and some have since changed their tune as this is warmed over crapola and nothing new presented. The 4 military related guys are all at odds with the reports of the DOD and the DOA. I've recommended repeatedly that you folks read these reports yet none of you do. John Bolton was given what I thought was his most important assignment. That was to give Trump a report within 1 year of how to strengthen and defend our national energy grid. He failed to do the biggest thing he could have done for American citizens, save up to 300 million lives if our energy grid gets destroyed. The US still can't replace the grid as the huge generators are actually made in Europe. You read that right, up to 300 million could die in the year that our power grid is down. Bolton's biggest beef was he could not convince Trump to be a warmonger as he thought Trump should be. Like the jerk on the NSC who didn't like Trump not doing what he was told, Trump listened to Bolton and then made his own decisions. Must have worked as Trump didn't get the US into any wars other than slamming ISIS in a job Obama left for him. Bolton slinked away a failure and then tried to make money attacking Trump and selling books. Trump claimed executive privilege and held up the book, can't remember if it was permanent or until he left office. Bill Barr has changed his tune. He is on record as saying in the here and now that Biden and the democrats are a bigger threat to democracy than Trump. Update your democratic talking points. Send me a link to Ty Cobb, thanks. EDIT: Ty Cobb Ty Cobb (attorney) - Wikipedia Never voted for Trump and was later said to believe the Russia investigation had merit. As that has since been disproven in spades, Ty Cobb seems to be a publicity seeker to me and is discredited on anything he says about Trump. Cassidy Hutchinson is a nobody who was convinced to lie to J6 by the bitch from Wyoming who was thrown out in an unprecedented landslide loss of her senate seat. Mike Pence's non-endorsement is an endorsement. EDIT: Pence will vote for Trump, no way he will vote for Harris or a 3rd party candidate. This is a hullabaloo over nothing. Pence says he ‘cannot in good conscience’ endorse Trump | CNN Politics Rex Tillerson seemed like a good guy at the time, may still be. Yeah, Mike Pompeo disagreed with him: Rex Tillerson slams Trump as Pompeo sings his praises | CNN Politics
I appreciate your response. Don't agree with much of it. You're right about one thing, Barr and Haley and the rest of them fell in line when they saw it would be bad for their brand not to (see Mike Pence) but that doesn't mean they didn't say what they felt at the time. Only when it became bad for business did they change their tune. That said, I give you props for you defending your argument. Also, here's the Ty Cobb link: https://thehill.com/homenews/campai...dent-trump-poses-gravest-threat-to-democracy/
It would be helpful to see what Trump’s current team thinks of him. For example Vance. Any info on his insights?
Thanks for the link, but I posted one above and posted a few more links and observations. I think the difference here is everyone knows or thinks they know Trump while no one wants to vet Kamala Harris which is a must do.
She absolutely has to be vetted. No disagreement there. People need to know who they're voting for, or not voting for. Trump has been vetted - and exposed. There are dozens of people who worked directly with Trump that have some extremely negative things to say - even warn Americans about - based off their personal experiences. And then there's his history of fraud with his charity work and Trump U, his lecherous behavior and sexual assault conviction, his adoration of autocrat strongmen, his con-man antics of selling sneakers and bibles (BIBLES LMAO), oh, and Jan 6th which is 100% on him. Vet Harris. And if there is evidence of her breaking laws, cheating cancer patients, having the patience, the mentality and the discipline of a 5 year old - and laws be damned to do whatever the hell she wants without accountability, I will be gladly weigh that into my decision on whom to vote for.
I'm guessing I knew a lot more that knew him personally and still do. They aren't surprised that Chaos thought Trump was a POS. Mattis is smart, honorable and an incredible warrior that led from the front. He is everything that Trump isn't. Same with McCraven. Trump isn't fit to breathe the same air as those two.
it’s interesting the juxtaposition of many of these individuals on this list (& gen Milley) to that of Trump. Many came up in working class families, military vets who served our country honorably for years, married to the same spouse for decades, practicing Christians, etc. Vs trump who was given money, has children with 3 different women, cheated on his wives, sexual abused women, cheated avg citizens in business deals, a convicted felon, a liar, spews hate and vitriol…..it goes on and on. And the kicker is, maga has to hate them and hitch their wagon to and admire Trump.
There is tons of evidence that Trump is a POS. They don't care. He could be screwing their wive's in front of them and they would deny it or blame the wife. It's amazing.
The cognitive dissonance on display here is just unreal. Yes this entire exhaustive list of people who were very close to Trump who now think he’s a piece of shit is completely wrong. I seriously can’t tell if you’re trolling.
