Former New Jersey Republican Governor, Christine Todd Whitman, wrote a scathing article in the Los Angeles Times Sunday in which she calls on her fellow Republicans to urge the president of the United States to step down. The former head of the Environmental Protection Agency under George W. Bush points to his “disgraceful performance” in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the way he handled things in the days after, as to why she believes Donald Trump needs to resign. In fact, she feels that his platform of “America First” has become “Russia First” and that cannot stand.
“My Republican colleagues — once rightfully critical of President Obama’s engagement strategy with Russian leader Vladimir Putin — have to end their willful ignorance of the damage Trump is doing both domestically and internationally. We must put aside the GOP label, as hard as that may be, and demonstrate the leadership our country needs by calling on the president to step down.”
She goes on to call out Trump’s “sycophantic relationship” with Putin, though she doesn’t find it surprising considering his previous statements about the dictator, but more she is shocked by how long he was in possession of the truth about Putin and Russia’s role in the U.S. elections’ meddling and his disregarding that information.
A productive dialogue is not only good for the United States and good for Russia, but it is good for the world. #HELSINKI2018 pic.twitter.com/Q2Y1PhM9au
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2018
Whitman is no stranger to butting heads with her own party. Back in 2005, she released a book entitled, “It’s My Party, Too: Taking Back the Republican Party… And Bringing the Country Together Again,” where she criticized the politics of George W. Bush’s administration and their electoral strategy which she saw as divisive. She then formed a political action committee called It’s My Party Too, in an attempt to help moderate Republicans win more seats throughout government.
As for her push to fellow Republicans in this latest article, she points to the president’s refusal to believe what his own intelligence agencies have to say as disturbing and wonders what it will take for his supporters to see that his actions are detrimental to the country.
“Along with his walk back of statements last week, and then walking back the walk backs, it’s impossible to keep up, and his behavior warrants a fresh evaluation of whether the president can be trusted with the future of the United States.”
Whitman believes it will take bold leadership to get this country back on the right path to actually putting America first and hopes that voters on both sides will demand action of their representatives.
