Former President George W. Bush’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Tom Ridge is urging voters in Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin to oppose President Donald Trump in the election.
In an op-ed for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ridge denounced Trump’s actions as “deplorable” — the same term Hillary Clinton used in 2016 to smear Trump supporters — and called his behavior “reprehensible” after vowing to support Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Ridge wrote:
I will cast my vote for Joe Biden on Nov. 3. It will be my first vote for a Democratic candidate for president of the United States. But it is not the first time I have said “no” to Donald Trump. I urge my fellow Pennsylvanians to join me. [Emphasis added]
…
With just about one month until Election Day, President Trump continues to claim the only way he can possibly be defeated is a rigged election. Can you imagine the hubris? Can you imagine any other president in our lifetime — or ever — saying something so dangerous and un-American? We are in the midst of a health crisis, when we should be doing all we can to help citizens vote safely, yet [Trump] continues to cast doubt on the sanctity of the vote. He’s done so multiple times here in Pennsylvania. It’s deplorable, yet utterly consistent with past reprehensible behavior. [Emphasis added]
Ridge said the nation needs Biden to usher in solutions for “income inequality and immigration reform,” among other issues. Ridge has a long record of advocating amnesty for all 11 to 22 million illegal aliens currently living in the United States.
In 2003, as Bush’s DHS Secretary, Ridge urged Congress and the president to give amnesty to all illegal aliens. The suggestion came less than two and a half years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks where 19 Islamic terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 Americans and injured more than 6,000 others.
Seven of the 19 9/11 hijackers were illegal aliens who overstayed their visas and were not deported. All were able to initially enter the U.S. legally before the attacks.
In 2016, Ridge went on a media tour to denounce Trump’s “America First” agenda, writing at the time “Suffice to say that I am disappointed that he is our party’s nominee … I simply cannot endorse him.”
Ridge is just the latest member of Washington, D.C.’s national security establishment to announce support for Biden. Former staffers for Trump’s DHS, Miles Taylor and Elizabeth Neumann, have gone as far as to cut campaign ads attacking Trump.
Both Taylor and Neumann were elevated in their roles at DHS by former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Ridge, when Nielsen was nominated for the position, praised her nomination.
Others like John Mitnick, who worked as general counsel at Trump’s DHS, and Olivia Troye, a former aide to Vice President Mike Pence, have also endorsed Biden against Trump.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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