While presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s popularity among GOP voters has been on the rise throughout the Biden administration, as evidenced by his domination of the GOP primary race, some prominent figures from his first term in the White House have become vocal critics since leaving the administration.
Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, who served as national security adviser under the former president, is among the most prominent Trump administration defectors. He reiterated his opposition to his former boss during a recent CNN interview.
While he indicated that he would not support President Joe Biden’s re-election bid, Bolton said that he planned to follow the same strategy he employed four years ago when he wrote in the name of former Vice President Dick Cheney on his presidential ballot.
He described the 83-year-old Cheney, who served with former President George W. Bush, as a “Reaganite conservative” and claimed that he would “do an immensely better job than either Trump or Biden.”
Of course, Cheney has also been a vocal Trump critic, as has his daughter, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).
Host Kaitlan Collins asked Bolton if he supported the younger Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump and subsequently vowed to leave the GOP if the former president is nominated again this year.
“Maybe someday she’ll get my write-in vote too,” Bolton replied.
In a social media post last week that included a clip from a separate interview, Bolton wrote that “neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden are fit to be president.”
We're in a very bad situation where neither Biden nor Trump are fit to be president. This is not good news for Americans and our national security interests. Listen to my conversation with @connellmcshane here: pic.twitter.com/4taF2rsdcT
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) April 5, 2024
He also weighed in on the ongoing debate within the House Republican caucus regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which critics say needs to be fundamentally revised in order to protect American citizens from being targeted by intelligence agents conducting warrantless searches.
Once again, Bolton disagreed with Trump, who has called for legislators to “kill” FISA.
“I implore Congress to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” Bolton wrote in another social media post. “It is irresponsible to create unnecessary risk for intelligence agencies who defend American lives worldwide. House Republicans must show strong leadership on FISA.”
