Home Attacks from the Left She Wanted to Be a Republican President. She’s Voting for Biden

She Wanted to Be a Republican President. She’s Voting for Biden

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She Wanted to Be a Republican President. She’s Voting for Biden

Republicans who say Donald Trump should lose in November but insist they won’t vote for Joe Biden aren’t being honest, Carly Fiorina argues.

Fiorina was a Republican candidate for president just four years ago, and was briefly Ted Cruz’s prospective running mate. Trump needs to go, she says—and that means she’s voting for Biden.

Fiorina is not going to keep quiet, write in another candidate, or vote third-party. “I’ve been very clear that I can’t support Donald Trump,” she told me, in an interview that can be heard in full on the latest episode of The Ticket. “And elections are binary choices.” She struggled with the decision, and whether to go public. But she said that this struggle is one Republicans need to have—including those who have rationalized supporting Trump despite their disagreements, because of some of his policies or judicial appointments.

“As citizens, our vote is more than a check on a box. You know, it’s a statement about where we want to go, and I think what we need now actually is real leadership that can unify the country,” she said. “I am encouraged that Joe Biden is a person of humility and empathy and character. I think he’s demonstrated that through his life. And I think we need humility and empathy everywhere in public life right now. And I think character counts.”

Of course, Trump diehards will dismiss her. She has said over the years that Trump isn’t a real businessman, that he lacks character, that he is the definition of an autocrat, that impeachment was “vital.” But she’s not the stereotype of a Republican squish: Before her 2016 run, she was a Tea Party–type candidate for Senate in 2010 and the CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Four years ago, she voted for Trump—even after he’d been caught saying about her, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?”

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who said she agrees with former Defense Secretary James Mattis that Trump is a threat to the Constitution, but is “struggling” with whether to vote for him, is putting politics over principle, Fiorina told me. John Bolton, who has said he hopes for America’s sake that Trump loses but that he’ll write in a conservative Republican, looks to Fiorina like he’s “desperately trying to preserve some position in the Republican Party as a conservative Republican.” As for Cruz, who’s turned into an avid Trump defender—she said she hasn’t spoken with him in years. And Trump, she told me, can tweet whatever he wants about her.

It hasn’t been an easy journey to backing a Democrat, especially when she thinks about issues that she cares deeply about, such as limiting government spending and restricting abortion. But as she’s been working with her Unlocking Potential Foundation, which focuses on increasing diversity among corporate leadership, she’s also been watching how the coronavirus pandemic has exposed inequality in America. She needed to speak up, too. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are right, she said: The structures of power have been bent too far toward corporate control. But if conservatives really want to do anything about it, she said, they need to start by standing up for their principles.

Edward-Isaac Dovere: Tom Nichols, the professor and writer who’s a Republican who’s turned on Trump, tweeted a few weeks ago: “I’m not sure who my people are.” With what’s happened with the Republican Party over these past few years, do you know who your people are?

Carly Fiorina: I am a registered Republican. I don’t believe I owe loyalty to a party. I believe I owe loyalty as a citizen to my community, to the Constitution, to other Americans. And I think we have witnessed, particularly in the era of Trump—but prior to that as well— what George Washington warned us about, which is that the trouble with political parties is people will come to care only about winning, and they’ll forget about values and governing. So as I’ve said publicly before, I’m unconcerned about whether I’m a loyal Republican or not, and I’m unconcerned about where “my people” are in a party structure.

When former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Trump was a threat to the Constitution, and Lisa Murkowski said she agreed with Mattis but is “struggling” with whether to support Trump, do you understand that struggle?

Fiorina: If you’re a politician, I do. I mean, if you’re a politician, you’re focused on winning. And I think all politicians, elected politicians in the Republican Party, have struggled with the power of Trump’s base. And so I don’t understand the struggle from the point of view of principles or beliefs. But I do understand it from the point of view of a politician. I think it’s why people are losing faith in politics and why too many people think all politicians are the same.

Dovere: Have you made up your mind about who you’re going to vote for in November?

Fiorina: I’ve been very clear that I can’t support Donald Trump. And, you know, elections are binary choices … I will say this: I think—I hope—that Biden understands that this moment in history calls for him to be a leader, not a politician.

Dovere: But so you are voting for Joe Biden?

Fiorina: Well, it’s not ’til November. I’m not voting for Trump, but it’s a binary choice. So if faced with a binary choice on a ballot: yes.

But I’m making, I think, just as important a point, which is: He will get a lot of pressure, as all politicians do, to be a politician. And yet I think what the nation is looking for is a leader. What’s the difference? Well, politics is about win-lose. I’m right; you’re wrong. It is, unfortunately, often about an argument between extremes. Leadership, on the other hand, is about problem-solving and making progress and changing the order of things for the better, which means it’s about humility and empathy and collaboration. And I think this moment calls upon Joe Biden to be a leader. I am encouraged that Joe Biden is a person of humility and empathy and character. I think he’s demonstrated that through his life.

Dovere: What about John Bolton, who says he’ll write in a conservative Republican, even though he wants Trump to lose?

Fiorina: I don’t really know what to make of that. I can’t read John Bolton’s mind, but I think John Bolton is desperately trying to preserve some position in the Republican Party as a conservative Republican. And maybe that’s what causes him to say that.

Dovere: Why isn’t it enough to say that the president got tax reform and all the judges, and that he’ll hold off all the liberal policies that he says will come with Biden?

Fiorina: I applaud his Supreme Court justice picks and the justices that he’s appointed into the lower courts. And I’m pro-life, and I didn’t agree completely with his tax-reform package. I didn’t agree with the bailout of big companies. I mean, I don’t always agree with the positions the Republican Party has taken. But, yes, there are plenty of policy differences that I have with Joe Biden. And there are plenty of policy differences that I have with the more progressive wing of the Democrat Party. And yet, I think when Biden talks about the soul of the nation, I think what he’s talking about is values and principles and character. Principles like coequal branches of government, principles like problem-solving should be a collaborative process, a bipartisan process. I think all those things matter.

32 COMMENTS

  1. Another nasty little person who wants everything her way. Biden is a nut bag. Sexual predators come in many forms. Biden is not mentally capable of running our country. So choose carefully because his vice president will be the next president.

  2. Another nasty little person who wants everything her way. Biden is a nut bag. Sexual predators come in many forms.

  3. Why would Fiorina Vote for Biden, a Dim witted Obuma partner?????? Why not just write in a vote????? Liars, Liars, Liars !!!!!!

  4. How can you vote for a president that is definitely has something mentally wrong with them. Glad for Fiorina wasn’t elected Republican president with that foresightTo run our country. I would be afraid Biden would push the war button and not even know what he did

  5. Carly Fiorina is still holding a grudge toward President Trump. Politics is dirty, and she needs to get beyond her feelings for the good of our country. She’s asking for Socialism if she continues to vocalize her support for Biden.

  6. Fiorina used the word “empathy” to describe Biden. that word is a commie buzz word. Besides Biden wouldn’t have the foggiest idea what it means.

    Fiorina has been and will always be a corporate globalist. She is not our friend, never was, never will be.

  7. Another ugly traitor. A back stabbing RINO. She want to vote for someone that doesn’t even know what hes running for.

  8. If they can’t support him they aren’t real republicans. If they can’t see everything he has done then they’re idiots. Es he is brass but he’s for America. Unlike Biden who has been proven time after time to have broken the law. He and Obama has set Trump up to fail through their illegal activities and they don’t care? He says Biden has character? Yes one that has proven to give all our enemies power over us. If not for Trump China would own us. They already have the democrats pushing their communist ways that they paid our colleges for. What more proof do these politicians need? Hope any of these people run again because we won’t vote for them. They need to switch to democrat and the democrats need to switch their party to communist. Remember how Hitler started. It’s the same all over again.

  9. Carli F made a mess of IBM when she worked there and she has made a mess of her life and confused. Sad

  10. I was a supporter of Carly in the primary. But she seems to be suffering from TDS. Divorce Trump the “mouth” you don’t like from Trump’s accomplishments. I wouldn’t need to like my surgeon if he or she was the best in that specialty and saved my life.

  11. No different from this gal Fornia and the RINO from Alaska Murkowski…they talk a bunch of crap, but are for a one world socialist police state…period!

  12. I can’t vote for Trump because he keeps his promises and is the only hope for America! Thank our Lord over & over & over again that she did not make it to the White House because there is no room for revenge in our voting system. This election IS so important that the Democrats who are openly Communists, know it’s now or never for the words “We will take you over without firing a shot, but from within”! We’re praying our petitions to God will be sufficient to be heard over the evils he has so patiently waited for to be denounced! We’re given a sample of Biden’s America and Carley says she will vote for him? I’m having difficulty comprehending the logic of sacrificing the safety of your family for a grudge! God Bless America!

  13. If Carly Fiorina makes STUPID decisions like that, I am SO glad that she never had the chance to BE President of the U.S. Carly, I don’t always vote along Party lines either, but to even consider putting a demented man, whose Party today, is a party of Socialists/Communists, Racists, and Anti-semities, is beyond my comprehension !

  14. Carly sounds so evil. She’s not very prolife at all. She hates Trump because he said a bad thing about her face. So The F what! I’m prolife, I don’t like Trumps personality and I’m Voting for his policies! #trump2020! I’m a woman for Trump

  15. So are we to believe that President Trump is a threat to the Constitution but Dementia Joe isn’t? So are we to believe that Joe doesn’t mean it when he says we only have rights because they allow us to? Carley, you need to get your facts checked. The one thing the Democrats hate is our right to vote. But first you have to take away our right to bear arms. Socialism is the first step to dictatorship and Joe’s all about socialism. Covid-19 is the perfect catalist to enact socialism and the Democrats are all about keeping us locked up till we have nothing left. Are you tired of the Democrat driven crazy? Vote Trump/Pence this fall and let’s take back the House and Senate! MAGA 2020!

  16. “….we need humility and empathy everywhere in public life….” Uh, NO! What we need to return to is the enforcement of ‘LAW AND ORDER!’ From your comments, you, nor your mistaken choice of some person that has FAILED to do ANYTHING for over 40 years in government to improve anybody’s life except his own will be able to bring that back! As John Stossel would say, “GIVE ME A BREAK!”

  17. Its really sad that grown adults need to hit President Trump with attitudes of udder disgust to his Son. People will see through this mask. Makes you want to ban every advertiser who will allow that to happen. Of course their Anxiety must be over the room. A young man can’t fathom that!

  18. And to think I actually voted for her. I voted for Trump based on his policies not his personality. I’ve been extremely happy with his choice of federal judges, strengthening our borders, our military, our economy; less federal regulations; his prolife support; protection for our religious freedoms; support of the nuclear family; support for black colleges and universities; etc. etc. Carly, which of those do you oppose? Hillary wouldn’t have done any those. Neither will Joe. And he’s not even mentally fit to be President of our country. He’s never been a leader but you’ll hope he is rather than the politician he’s been for over 40 years. To say I’m ashamed and disappointed in your choice is a huge disappointment. The choice is binary just as you said.

  19. Well, I am not overly fond of Trump, but I am even more concerned about Biden. I did not decide what I would do all the way till an hour before I voted last time. I will probably be in the same position again. However, I couldn’t vote for Hillary, and I really can’t vote for Biden. We don’t even know who his running mate is yet, and with the way his mental capacities seem to be waning, I’d be real concerned about who the VP is.

  20. Fiorina, you are not a Republican. You are a sellout. Why anyone in their right mind would vote for “Quid Pro Quo Joe” is beyond me. You would actually be voting for whoever he has as his running mate, because he won’t have the stamina nor mental capacity to handle the office. He hasn’t done anything notable in all the years he has been in politics. So what makes you think he is going to start now? He can’t even put two coherent sentences together without tripping on his tongue. Hell, he doesn’t know where he is half the time! You just need to stay home and take and take care of Tom who I used to admire for his acting. But now, since he has been making negative comments against President Trump, I will never watch another movie of his. As a matter of fact, I am throwing away all movies I have of him in the garbage. You are all a bunch idiots so out f touch with normal everyday people!!!

  21. People like CF have no solid convictions. They change with the wind. Anyone that supports a demonRat marxist communist, hates America and it’s founding. The Constitution be damned. The never Trump repubs are spineless jellyfish. They are only concerned with their future not the American People’s future. POTUS works 24/7 for the American people. Who else has ever done that ?

  22. You should move with Biden to China. How about Ucrain business, china trip before corona virus. I call POLITICAL VIRUS with china. I’ts spread to fast over the world like this ANTIFA and BLM.

  23. Sounds like the talk of a woman scorned. She will never forget the things said during the debates of presidential candidates. The ire of a woman scorned.

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