Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell has endorsed Democratic former United States Vice President Joe Biden, becoming the first important Republican to publicly back President Donald Trump's rival ahead of November's election.
Powell, who led the US military during the 1991 Gulf War in Iraq under then-Republican President George HW Bush and later led the Department of State under President George W Bush, said Trump has "drifted away" from the US Constitution and posed a danger to the country and its democracy.
"I cannot in any way support President Trump this year," Powell, who did not vote for the Republican president in 2016, told CNN. Asked if he would vote for Biden, he added: "I will be voting for him."
"We are in a turning point," Powell said, blasting Republican senators for not standing up to Trump.
"He lies about things. And he gets away with it because people will not hold him accountable."
Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and other retired officers have condemned Trump in recent days.
"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," Mattis said.
Trump has ‘drifted away’ from the US Constitution and posed a danger to the country and its democracy, Powell says.
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Trump is fuming about that: