Some might say this latest development is the beginning of the end of Donald Trump’s high flying ride to the Presidency. Others would say this will not even diminish his popularity but increase it exponentially. Whatever Americans might think, one thing is clear: the Republican Party has had its biggest defection of support from its firebrand candidate, as Meg Whitman publicly announced that she would endorse the Democrats’ Hillary Clinton over Trump.
According to ABC News, Whitman, a major Republican donor and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, has issued a statement on August 2 Tuesday night declaring that she would vote for Hillary Clinton as US President, while accusing Trump of being a “demagogue” unfit for the office.
Whitman’s statement read, "As a proud Republican, casting my vote for President has usually been a simple matter. This year is different. To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division.
Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character." In another interview with the New York Times, Whitman also said she would bring her own financial capabilities to bear in making a sizeable contribution to Clinton’s presidential campaign, after the former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State personally asked her for support. The Times was first in reporting Whitman’s withdrawal from the Trump campaign to side with Clinton.
The business mogul further discussed some of the proposed presidential policies of her fellow billionaire tycoon that she found questionable, namely the building of the US-Mexico border wall and the ban on Muslim immigration. She said her resolve to leave was spurred by inter-party arguments between Trump and Republican leaders over his increasingly pitched heated feud with Pakistani- American legal consultant Khizr Khan, whose son Humayun had served in the Army and was killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq back in 2004. The fact that other GOP members of Congress have openly switched to Clinton over the perceived disparaging attitude of Trump to a “Gold Star” family seems to prove Whitman’s decision sound.
When Trump won the GOP nomination last July, the H-P CEO pledged not to vote for him, comparing the Trump Group head to World War II dictators while in a private gathering with Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican nominee.
The statement ended with a call from Whitman to all Republicans to follow her and those who have already left."In a tumultuous world, America needs the kind of stable and aspirational leadership Secretary Clinton can provide. I urge all Republicans to reject Donald Trump this November," she said.
Photo Credit to www.nytimes.com
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