Former Reagan, Bush appointee says he'd vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump

Former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

published 16 June 2016

Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state under former President George W. Bush, said Thursday that if Donald Trump is the Republican Party's chosen nominee, he'll be voting for Hillary Clinton. "He doesn't appear to be a Republican, he doesn't appear to want to learn about the issues," Armitage, who also served as an assistant secretary of defense under former President Ronald Reagan, said of Trump. "So I'm going to vote for Mrs. Clinton."

While Armitage isn't the first Republican to refuse to support Trump, Politico reports that he "is thought by Clinton aides to be the highest ranking former GOP national security official to openly support Clinton over Trump." Only a handful of other GOPers have suggested so far that they'd be voting for Clinton over Trump, and Armitage said he isn't sure whether any more would be joining him. In fact, Armitage said, many of his Republican-leaning friends in national security are simply "confused" by what to do in this election. "They're in kind of a fog," Armitage said.