During ABC's special inauguration day coverage of President Barack Obama on the morning of Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, former Secretary of State Colin Powell lashed out in an interview with Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos. Powell went off on on those in the Republican Party who have spent the last four years spreading "birther nonsense" and other issues that "demonize the president."
Powell actually has called on the leaders of the GOP to come out publicly and denounce those accusations and talk.
"Republicans have to stop buying into things that demonize the president. I mean, why aren’t Republican leaders shouting out about all this birther nonsense and all these other things? They should speak out. This is the kind of intolerance that I've been talking about where these idiot presentations continue to be made and you don’t see the senior leadership of the party say, 'No, that’s wrong.' In fact, sometimes by not speaking out, they're encouraging it. And the base keeps buying the stuff.
"And it's killing the base of the party. I mean, 26 percent favorability rating for the party right now. It ought to be telling them something. So, instead of attacking me or whoever speaks like I do, look in the mirror and realize, 'How are we going to win the next election?"
Powell wasn't done from this point on though. The man that served as National Security Adviser for Ronald Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George H.W. Bush, and the nation's top diplomat under George W. Bush kept going off.
"The Republican Party ought to be out there not restricting voting by voter ID, but saying we want everybody to vote," he told Sawyer and Stephanopoulos. "It's a party that has to stop saying, 'We are going to appeal to you with new messages.' You need policies — the country is becoming more minority."
Back in October, Powell endorsed President Obama's reelection bid even though he is a Republican. He states that many have actually come after him asking him why he is still a part of the party.
He admits that President Obama needs to do a better job in his second term of reaching out to members of Congress and other things he has promised. Powell also hopes that he can "restore a sense of civility" to the United States and its citizens.
Powell said that he is still a Republican due to those such as Reagan, Cap Weinberger, George Schultz, and George H.W. Bush. He says, "that's the Republican party I know."
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