This is an ever-updating page for quotes by Republicans, many of whom have worked closely with Trump and know or once knew the danger he posed. Some still vocally oppose him. Some chose power and safety over integrity.
JD Vance – Trump’s Vice President
“America’s Hitler”
“a cynical asshole like Nixon”
“My god what an idiot”
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy. I never liked him.”
John Kelly – Trump’s Longest-Serving Chief of Staff
“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 is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women,” Kelly continued. “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason – in expectation that someone will take action. 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.”
Mike Pence – Trump’s Vice President
“‘But the American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the constitution.’
‘Now, voters will be faced with the same choice: I chose the constitution and I always will.’
He added that Mr Trump’s actions on 6 January should disqualify him from returning to power.
‘I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States,’ he said.
‘And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again.’
Mark Milley – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Under Trump
“‘I glimpsed it when I talked to you back — for ‘Peril,’ but I now know it. I now know it, he said.
‘No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump,’ the general told Woodward. ‘Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.'”
Mark Esper – Trump’s Defense Secretary
“I think he’s unfit for office,” Mark Esper said of the 76-year-old Trump in an interview with CNN.
“He puts himself before country,” the former Pentagon chief continued, adding, “To me that’s shortcoming number one, and then I believe he has integrity and character issues as well.”
“I don’t think he’s an honest person. We saw the falsehoods that came out of his remarks last night … Americans need a leader they can trust,” Esper said.
Rex Tillerson – Trump’s Secretary of State
“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.”
Lindsay Graham – Republican Senator and Trump Supporter
“I just think it’s a uniquely bad idea to delay this election. Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president, but today, first thing you’ll see. All I can say is a count me out. Enough is enough.”
Bill Barr – Trump’s Attorney General
“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.”
James Mattis – Trump’s Secretary of Defense
“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,” Mattis writes. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”