Colin Powell Announces He’s Voting For Clinton

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced that he will be voting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The self-declared Republican and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at a Long Island Association luncheon on Oct. 25..

“He insults us every day,” Powell said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, according to Newsday. “He has insulted America in one way almost every day. He has insulted Latino Americans. He has insulted African Americans. He has insulted women. He has insulted his own party. He has insulted our allies around the world one by one. He has insulted veterans.”

Powell then spoke of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, whom he considers a personal friend of 20 years.

“She is smart,” Powell said. “She is capable. She was a good Secretary of State. She is balanced, she has temperament and no matter what anyone says she has stamina … I think she is fully qualified to serve as the president of the United States and will serve it with distinction.”

According to the Daily Beast, however, Powell has not withheld criticism of Clinton in the past.

“Everything HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton] touches she kind of screws up with hubris,” Powell wrote in a leaked email. “I would rather not have to vote for her, although she is a friend I respect.”

Powell allegedly advised Clinton to use a private email server as Secretary of State, much as he had done during his time in office.

“Powell told her to use her own email, as he had done, except for classified communications, which he had sent and received via a State Department computer,” author Joe Conason told the New York Times.

But after Clinton’s email use was revealed, Powell bemoaned her handling of the scandal.

“Sad thing… HRC could have killed this two years ago by merely telling everyone honestly what she had done and not tie me into it,” Powell wrote in another leaked email, according to the Daily Beast. “I told her staff three times not to try that gambit. I had to throw a mini tantrum at a Hamptons party to get their attention.”

Sources: The Daily Beast (2), The New York Times, Newsday / Photo Credit: Ed Betz/Newsday