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Colin Powell: 'I can no longer call myself a fellow Republican'

By Marina Pitofsky - 01/10/21 08:34 PM EST
 

Former Secretary of State Colin PowellColin Luther PowellNew DNC video highlights Republicans leaving GOP Council on Foreign Relations president invokes former boss Reagan in quitting GOP Overnight Defense: Army details new hair and grooming standards | DC National Guard chief says Pentagon restricted his authority before riot | Colorado calls on Biden not to move Space Command MORE said that he no longer considers himself a Republican following the riot that broke out at the Capitol last week.

Asked by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria whether he believes “fellow Republicans” who have not criticized President TrumpDonald TrumpGovernors in hot water over their coronavirus response DOJ investigating whether Alex Jones, Roger Stone played role in Jan. 6 riots: WaPo Did Biden just endorse 'human rights with Chinese characteristics'? MORE “encouraged, at least, this wildness to grow and grow,” Powell responded that “they did, and that’s why I can no longer call myself a Republican.”

“I’m not a fellow of anything right now. I’m just a citizen who has voted Republican, voted Democrat throughout my entire career, and right now I’m just watching my country and not concerned with parties,” Powell said. 

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“I do not know how he was able to attract all of these people. They should have known better, but they were so taken by their political standing and how none of them wanted to put themselves at political risk. They would not stand up and tell the truth or stand up and criticize him, or criticize others,” he continued.

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Powell, who also served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under former President George H.W. Bush and as national security adviser under former President Reagan, told CNN that “we need people who will speak the truth, who remember that they are here for our fellow citizens.” 

“They are here for our country. They are not here simply to be reelected again. Come on, guys. You can make it in private life if you don’t get reelected, but right now we need you to be real Americans who we can trust, who will tell the truth, who will argue on the basis of facts and not just argue on the basis of what their primary looks like,” he said.

Pro-Trump rioters breached the Capitol last week amid protests in Washington, D.C., calling on officials to block the certification of the Electoral College vote in the presidential election between Trump and president-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenClose to 70 dead in states with severe winter weather: report Two more deaths confirmed in Louisiana related to severe winter weather Lawyer who filed suit to reverse 2020 election results referred by judge for discipline MORE. The demonstrators ransacked offices, smashed windows, defaced artifacts and more.

Powell last week said he wished that Trump would resign from office as calls for his removal surge in the nation’s capital.

“I wish he would just do what [former President] Nixon did, and that’s step down,” Powell told NBC’s "Today" show. “Somebody ought to go up there and tell him, ‘It’s over. The plane’s waiting for you. You’re out.’” 

“That way, he would not only step down; he would in addition sort of cut the guts out from underneath this group of people he has working for him,” he continued.

Tags Colin Powell Donald Trump Joe Biden