TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS IN THEIR OWN WORDS

“We don’t take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator [like Donald Trump]. We don’t take an oath to an individual. 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.”
-- Gen. Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

"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. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort."
-- Gen. James Mattis, former Secretary of Defense

"I think that given the events of January 6, given how he has undermined the election results, he incited people to come to DC, stirred them up that morning and failed to call them off, to me, that threatens our democracy."
-- Mark Esper, former Secretary of Defense

"Trump is unfit to be president. If his first four years were bad, a second four will be worse."
-- John Bolton, former National Security Advisor

“I think it’s fair to question his mental acuity when you have these kinds of moments like this where he definitely seemed very confused."

"When we have a candidate on the ballot who will not uphold the Constitution, then I feel like I have to put policy aside, and I want to support the person who is best suited to defeat Donald Trump,”
-- Sarah Matthews, former White House aide

"This isn’t some crazy person on the internet; this is the GOP front-runner for President, if the Party doesn’t wake up & demand better."

"He’s not even trying to hide the racism at this point. Just despicable."
-- Alyssa Griffin, former White House Communications Director

“When we talk about Donald Trump, how he’s completely devoid of any leadership quality … that right there, tells you who Donald Trump is. He waged attacks on the American people.”

“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, former aide to White House Chief of Staff

“What can I add that has not already been said? [Donald J. Trump is] a person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France. A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women. A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person [a stochastic terrorist] who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior [Gen. Mark Milley] who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason – in expectation that someone [some deranged Trump-cult acolyte] will take action [and assassinate Gen. Milley]. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. There is nothing more that can be said. God help us.”
-- Gen. John Kelly, former White House Chief of Staff

"What we saw week in and week out and for me after two and a half years in that administration was terrifying. We would go in to try to talk to them about a pressing national security, cyber attack, terrorism threat. He wasn't interested in those things to him. They weren't priorities."

"He told us to stop giving money to people whose houses had burned down from a wildfire because he was so rageful that people in the state of California didn't support him and that politically it wasn't a base."

"A lot of the time, the things he wanted to do not only were impossible, but in many cases illegal. He didn't want us to tell them it was illegal anymore because he knew that there were, and these were his words, he knew that he had magical authorities."

"I came away completely convinced, based on firsthand experience, that the president was ill equipped and wouldn't become equipped to do his job effectively. And what's worse was actively doing damage to our security."
-- Miles Taylor, former Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff

“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year."

“I believe anyone that puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again."
-- Mike Pence, former Vice President

"It was shocking seeing the president saying that the virus was a hoax, saying that everything is OK when we know that it’s not. The truth is he doesn’t care about anyone else but himself.”
-- Olivia Troye, former aide to Vice President (Pence)

"Casual dishonesty filtered through the White House as if it were in the air conditioning system."

“I knew that sooner or later the president would want me to tell the public something that was not true or that would make me sound like a lunatic."
-- Stephanie Grisham, former White House Press Secretary

"We might have only one more vote left that really matters. If Trump comes to office, he’s already declared that he intends to be a dictator. The President and the chief executive is invested with broad powers. And it’s not easy to undo American democracy that’s been around for nearly 250 years, but a lot of damage has been done. And, President Trump has every intention to do that.”
-- Col. Alexander Vindman, former Director for European Affairs, United States National Security Council

"Trump himself was a massive counterintelligence risk, because of his vulnerabilities and the fragility of his ego."
-- Fiona Hill, CMG, Senior Director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council

“Someone who engaged in that kind of bullying about a process that is fundamental to our system and to our self-government shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.”
-- William Barr, former Attorney General

“[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, former Secretary of State

“Chaos follows him [Trump], and we can’t be a country in disarray in a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won’t survive it.”
-- Nikki Haley, former Ambassador to the United Nations

“I think he [Trump] is a coward and I think he’s a puppet of Putin”
-- Chris Christie, former leader of Trump's presidential transition team

“The reasons for yesterday’s criminal assault on our Congress and election process are many. But foremost among them is the sad reality that President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain. Those who engaged in disinformation and demagoguery in pursuit of self-interest abdicated their responsibility to the American people. It was, in every sense of the phrase, a dereliction of duty.”
-- Gen. H.R. McMaster, former National Security Advisor

“He [Trump] is the domestic terrorist of the 21st century.”

“He [Trump] wants to be part of the axis of autocracy with people like Vladimir Putin. And just to remind people, Vladimir Putin is tied very closely to Iran now, so just think about what that means for the Middle East, ‘cause we know how transactional Donald Trump is.”
-- Anthony Scaramucci, former Communications Director

"...the [then] president [Mr. Trump] has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices.”
-- Capt. Richard Spencer, USMC, Ret., former Secretary of the Navy

“The President undermined American democracy baselessly for months. As a result, he’s culpable for this siege, and an utter disgrace.”
-- Tom Bossert, former Homeland Security Advisor

"Trump relentlessly puts forth claims that are not true."

“I think you have to take Trump seriously, because he poses the gravest threat to democracy that we’ve ever seen.”
-Ty Cobb, former White House lawyer

“Donald Trump, who would attack civil rights icons and professional athletes, who would go after grieving black widows, who would say there were good people on both sides, who endorsed an accused child molester; Donald Trump, and his decisions and his behavior, was harming the country. I could no longer be a part of this madness.”
-- Omarosa Manigault Newman, former White House Aide