Former talk-show host Montel Williams charged Wednesday that the Republican Party has "definitely shut the door and don't care" about other groups, including minorities, veterans and LGBT people."I think it is time to change that rhetoric," he told Brooke Baldwin on CNN. "I stepped away from the party when the party completely stepped away from me and made me understand they didn't want me to be a part."I became an independent, but that didn't change my conservative values. It didn't change the way I feel about issues."Why can't we even have a conversation?"Williams, who supported Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the primaries,sponsored by the American Unity Fund and the Log Cabin Republicans. The two Republican groups support LGBT equality issues."If we truly are the party of Lincoln, we truly are the party of [Ronald] Reagan," he told Baldwin. "Reagan himself said in 1984 that we are the party that includes all … and there is no place for bigots."Williams, who served in both the Marine Corps and the Navy, has long advocated for veterans' issues.He slammed calls by Republicans and some Democrats to send in ground troops to battle the Islamic State."What I want to know is what are you going to do for veterans," he told Baldwin. "When you hear both sides say 'I'm going to contain ISIS,' that means you need troops."You know how often I've been here talking about until we fulfill the debt we have with troops, how dare you think about sending off more children off to die?"Before we commit more lives, let's agree to pay the debt we owe."