GOP Thoughts
on the Dangers
of Donald Trump

"Bullying and prejudice in our public life sets a national tone, provides permission for cruelty and bigotry, and compromises the moral education of children. The only way to pass along civic values is to first live up to them."

– George W. Bush

“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.”

– James Mattis

“We don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We take an oath to the Constitution and we take an oath to the idea that is America – and we’re willing to die to protect it.”

– General Mark Milley 

“(Trump’s) understanding of global events, his understanding of global history, his understanding of US 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.”

– Rex Tillerson

“He’s fundamentally ignorant, and he really doesn’t care about the facts. He thinks international relations are about personal relations, which is a line and approach that I can tell you, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are eagerly looking forward to.”

– John Bolton

“My theory on why he likes the dictators so much is that’s who he is... Every incoming president is shocked that they actually have so little power without going to the Congress, which is a good thing. It’s Civics 101, separation of powers, three equal branches of government. But in his case, he was shocked that he didn’t have dictatorial-type powers to send US forces places or to move money around within the budget. And he looked at Putin and Xi and that nutcase in North Korea as people who were like him in terms of being a tough guy.”

– Gen. John Kelly

“To this day, he still doubles down on the fact that he thinks that the election was stolen and fraudulent. And his rhetoric has just gotten increasingly erratic. He’s literally called for things like doing away with parts of the constitution, [and] wanting to weaponize the department of justice to enact revenge on his political enemies.”

– Alyssa Farah Griffin

“...the media continuously repeats his racist taunt. He’s trying to get a rise out of us. He says all sorts of outrageous things, and I don’t make a point of answering any one of them.”

– Elaine Chao

“He doesn’t think in classical liberal conservative terms. He thinks in an authoritarian way and he’s been able to get a big chunk of the Republican base to follow him because he’s the culture warrior.”

– Paul Ryan

“To this day, he still doubles down on the fact that he thinks that the election was stolen and fraudulent. And his rhetoric has just gotten increasingly erratic. He’s literally called for things like doing away with parts of the constitution, [and] wanting to weaponize the department of justice to enact revenge on his political enemies.”

– Alyssa Farah Griffin

“If one were to ask him to define ‘balance of power,’ he wouldn’t know what that concept was. He’d have no idea about the history of Ukraine and why it’s in the front pages today. He wouldn’t know that Stalin starved that country. Those are the contextual points one has to take into account in the making of foreign policy. But he wasn’t capable of it, because he had no understanding of history: how these countries and their leadership evolved, what makes these countries tick.”

– Charles Kupperman

“A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about.”

– John Kelly

"The United States of America is about the rule of law, something you [Donald Trump] couldn’t care less about."

– George Conway

“If one were to ask him to define ‘balance of power,’ he wouldn’t know what that concept was. He’d have no idea about the history of Ukraine and why it’s in the front pages today. He wouldn’t know that Stalin starved that country. Those are the contextual points one has to take into account in the making of foreign policy. But he wasn’t capable of it, because he had no understanding of history: how these countries and their leadership evolved, what makes these countries tick.”

– Charles Kupperman

“I don’t know Trump personally, never took a picture with the man. Never spoke to him. For the good of the nation, I do not think he should run again in 2024.”

– Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears

"We need leaders of integrity and character, and we need leaders who will bring people together and reach across the aisle and do what's best for the country. And Donald Trump doesn't meet the mark for me on any of those issues."

– Mark Esper

“I think that Donald Trump is the most grave threat we will face to our democracy in our lifetime, and potentially in American history.”

– Cassidy Hutchinson

“We can survive bad policies. We cannot survive torching the Constitution.”

– Liz Cheney

“This is a strong Trump state. But I’ll also say this, we cannot live in this havoc.”

– Mac Brown

“They knew Donald Trump was dangerous back then, or at least unfit. And they wanted to be there to serve the country. I think they did it all for the right reasons. But I think that they have to serve the country again by saying what they saw.”

– Sarah Longwell

“I’ve never voted for a Democrat in my life, but I think that in this next election, I would put policy aside and choose democracy.”

– Sarah Matthews

“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling.”

– Mitt Romney

“And it’s really a debate about whether or not the Republican Party is going to continue to hew to the common-sense conservative agenda that has defined our movement over the last 50 years or whether we’re going to, we’re going to heed the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative principles.”

– Mike Pence

“As we saw all too well on January 6th, words have meanings and actions have consequences. It is a sad day for our democracy and our standing as a world leader, but we must continue to travel the long and winding road to justice.”

– Jasmine Crockett

“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year… During my presidential campaign, I made it clear that there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues. Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years and that's why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”

– Mike Pence

“In our nation's 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump…He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward. A real man wouldn't lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.”

– Dick Cheney