Top Jeb adviser leaves GOP, mulls Clinton vote
A top adviser to former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush and a well-known figure in GOP circles says she’s leaving the party and may vote for Hillary Clinton.
Sally Bradshaw, who was a senior adviser during Bush’s White House bid, told CNN she has left the GOP to become an independent.
Republicans are “at a crossroads and have nominated a total narcissist — a misogynist — a bigot,” Bradshaw told CNN’s Jamie Gangel in an email.
“This is a time when country has to take priority over political parties. Donald Trump cannot be elected president,” Bradshaw added.
Bradshaw also worked for George H.W. Bush’s 1988 campaign and served as Jeb Bush’s chief of staff when he was the governor of Florida.
“This election cycle is a test,” Bradshaw said. “As much as I don’t want another four years of [President Barack] Obama’s policies, I can’t look my children in the eye and tell them I voted for Donald Trump. I can’t tell them to love their neighbor and treat others the way they wanted to be treated, and then vote for Donald Trump. I won’t do it.”
Jeb Bush is among several former Trump rivals, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who have chosen not to endorse the party’s presidential nominee. Bush also skipped last month’s GOP national convention.
Bradshaw is the latest Republican to signal her opposition to Trump as well as openness to supporting the Democratic standard-bearer, saying, “If the race in Florida is close, I will vote for Hillary Clinton,” she said.
“That is a very difficult statement for me to make. I disagree with her on several important issues,” she noted.
She joins other high-profile officials from the George H.W. Bush administration, including Hank Paulson, Richard Armitage and Brent Scowcroft, in signaling they may back Clinton.
She said Trump’s feud with the parents of Humayun Khan, a Muslim Army captain who died in combat in Iraq, after last week’s Democratic convention “reinforced” her decision to leave the GOP.
“I’ve been considering the switch for months. Ultimately, I could not abide the hateful rhetoric of Donald Trump and his complete lack of principles and conservative philosophy,” she told CNN.
“I didn’t make this decision lightly. I have worked hard to make our party a place where all would feel welcome. But Trump has taken the GOP in another direction, and too many Republicans are standing by and looking the other way.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
