Former Va. Sen. John Warner slams Trump during Clinton endorsement

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Former Republican Sen. John Warner endorsed Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, calling her “prepared to be a world leader and the United States president.”

The longtime Virginia senator cast the choice between Clinton and Donald Trump as a dire one for world security, saying he felt “distressed by some of the comments” made by Trump, though he did not speak Trump’s name until the end of his speech, when he said: “Loose lips sink ships. You got that Trump?”


“There comes a time when I have to stand up and assert my own views,” Warner said here. “If there’s one thing about candidate Clinton that you’ve got to understand, she throughout her whole life has been prepared, done her homework and studied.”

In particular, Warner was alarmed by Trump’s criticism of the military, declaring it is not the “rubble” that Trump has portrayed it as and calling that criticism “ridiculous.” Trump has said the state of the military is a “disaster.”

“We have today the strongest military in the world. No one can compare with us,” Warner said. “No one should have the audacity to stand up and degrade the purple heart … or talk about the military being in a state of disaster. That’s wrong.”

Warner also reminisced on serving on the Armed Services Committee with a “well-prepared” Clinton whose attendance was exemplary. His assessment of Trump was far less glowing.

“You don’t pull up a quick text, like ‘National Security for Dummies,’” Warner said. “That book hasn’t been published.”

The retired five-term senator is opting to back Clinton over his own party’s nominee as a signal to voters in the swing state of Virginia of who he believes would be best suited to be commander in chief. It’s the second straight cycle Warner has bucked his party: In 2014, he endorsed Democratic Sen. Mark Warner over Republican challenger Ed Gillespie.

Spokespeople for Trump did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, Clinton reveled in the endorsement.

“For 30 years, Virginians trusted John Warner in the Senate, and for good reason: He has dedicated his life to defending our country, from serving in the Navy in World War II to chairing the Senate Armed Services Committee, where I had the honor of working with him to support our men and women in uniform and their families. I am proud to have John’s support, and to know that someone with his decades of experience would trust me with the weighty responsibility of being Commander in Chief,” Clinton said.

The endorsement was rolled out here on Wednesday morning alongside Clinton running mate and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. Warner was a 30-year member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and his endorsement marks another high-profile national security voice to back Clinton. It’s the first Democratic presidential candidate Warner has endorsed.

In introducing Warner, Kaine called him a “proud” Republican that was willing to cross party lines in order to put “country first, especially on matters of national security.”

“That he could be my friend as a Democratic senator willing to offer me advice is just remarkable,” Kaine said. “John Warner is the example of how [politics] can be done and how it should be done.”

Virginia, a key battleground state in the general election, has seen the race tighten in recent months, with Clinton’s 9-point advantage over Trump last month shrinking to 6 points in a recent Quinnipiac poll, 45 percent to 39 percent. But Kaine’s position on the ticket has helped keep the state from drifting further away from Clinton, and Warner’s support should help it further.

“He is someone who has always put country above politics,” said Mark Warner, who lost a Senate race to John Warner in 1996.

Warner framed Kaine as a similar aisle-crossing politician, citing his push against the advice of Democratic leadership to try and force a debate over a congressional war declaration: “He has been the one who said if he are going to send our men and women into combat, we need need to do our job.”

Warner, 89, was the second-longest serving senator in Virginia history; he was succeeded in 2009 by Mark Warner. He was also secretary of the Navy during the Nixon administration.

The news was first reported by The Washington Post.

