Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has joined the growing list of Republicans to endorse the Democratic nominee for president, Hillary Clinton.
A Clinton presidency is “a lot better for the country,” he told Jake Tapper Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“It’s time to think of country over party,” he said. “I don’t want to go back 50 years. I don’t want to see kids being bullied in school because they have a Spanish last name.”
Clinton is experienced and “knows how the system works,” he said. “I think she’d make a darn good president. I would have preferred Jeb Bush, but I think Hillary is a great choice. I am afraid of what Donald Trump would do to this country.”
Trump’s plan for the economy, he added, resembles that of an “under-developed country.”
“That would be a disaster,” he said.
Tapper asked whether Gutierrez, who worked under George W. Bush, had notified members of the Bush family of his decision.
“I sent emails out,” Gutierrez responded.
When asked what other members of the “global elite” plan to do in November, Gutierrez said that many are still on the fence about Clinton but don’t plan to vote for Trump.
“Most of them are totally disgusted by the Trump nomination. They don’t know what to do,” he said. “If Trump wins, I think it’s a tactical victory for him and a strategic loss for the GOP. This is the time to stand up and show some leadership.”
Gutierrez wonders whether Trump represents a necessary “wake-up call” for the Republican Party.
“I’m going to do everything possible to make sure that the GOP doesn’t get destroyed,” he said.
The Clinton campaign announced Gutierrez’s endorsement last week.
Other former Bush administration officials, including then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Bush intelligence adviser Brent Scowcroft, have said they’re supporting Clinton. And former Rep. Chris Shays (Conn.) and former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) joined the list of Clinton endorsers last week.
GOP lawmakers such as Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Mark Kirk (Ill.) have not been shy in expressing their opposition to Trump either.
Outside of Congress, 50 of the nation’s top Republican national security officers even signed an open letter last week making it clear that they’re not voting for Trump.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
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