Meg Whitman Says She’ll Vote For Hillary Clinton

Meg Whitman, a top Republican donor and fundraiser who ran for Governor of California in 2010, has become the latest Republican to announce she will support Hillary Clinton for President:

Meg Whitman, a Hewlett Packard executive and Republican fund-raiser, said Tuesday that she would support Hillary Clinton for president and give a “substantial” contribution to her campaign in order to stop Donald J. Trump, whom she berated as a threat to American democracy.

“I will vote for Hillary, I will talk to my Republican friends about helping her, and I will donate to her campaign and try to raise money for her,” Ms. Whitman said in a telephone interview.

She revealed that Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic nominee, had reached out to her in a phone call about a month ago, one of the first indications that Mrs. Clinton is aggressively courting Republican leaders. While acknowledging she diverged from Mrs. Clinton on many policy issues, Ms. Whitman said it was time for Republicans “to put country first before party.”

Using remarkably blunt language, she argued that the election of Mr. Trump, whom she called “a dishonest demagogue,” could lead the country “on a very dangerous journey.” She noted that democracies had seldom lasted longer than a few hundred years and warned that those who say that “it can’t happen here” are being naïve.

Ms. Whitman also said she “absolutely” stood by her comments at a private gathering of Republican donors this year comparing Mr. Trump to Hitler andMussolini, explaining that dictators often come to office through democratic means.

“Time and again history has shown that when demagogues have gotten power or come close to getting power, it usually does not end well,” Ms. Whitman said. She asserted that Mr. Trump had already “undermined the character of the nation.”

(…)

Ms. Whitman was a leading fund-raiser for Mr. Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign and was a chairwoman of Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential finance team this year. But after Mr. Christie withdrew from the campaign and endorsed Mr. Trump, Ms. Whitman excoriated the New Jersey governor for what she said was an “astonishing display of political opportunism.”

On Tuesday, Ms. Whitman said she had not spoken to Mr. Christie since he endorsed Mr. Trump, and pointedly noted that she had not changed her view of his decision.

Ms. Whitman, who said she would remain a Republican, brings with her a considerable network of contributors, some of whom she said were open to giving to Mrs. Clinton. She said she was willing to campaign for Mrs. Clinton, said she would do her best to gather checks for her campaign and indicated she would personally give to both Mrs. Clinton and her affiliated “super PACs.” An aide to Ms. Whitman said she would personally give at least an amount in the “mid-six figures” to the Clinton effort.

Whitman is the latest top Republican to not only abandon support of Trump, but to openly come out in support of Hillary Clinton. She joins a group that includes a former top adviser to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and a sitting New York Congressman. Given the chaos that has enveloped the race since the conventions, one suspects she won’t be the last.

FILED UNDER: 2016 Election, Democracy, US Politics, , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Lit3Bolt says:

    Good to see there’s some Republicans who can reconcile “principled” and “conservative.”

  2. motopilot says:

    “Time and again history has shown that when demagogues have gotten power or come close to getting power, it usually does not end well,” Ms. Whitman said.

    And then I read this article this morning…

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/joe-scarborough-trump-briefing-nuclear-weapons

  3. C. Clavin says:

    @motopilot:
    I linked to that same thing in another thread.
    Mind-boggling…and perhaps the biggest indicator yet that this man should not have access to the nuclear codes.
    I’m not a fan of Scarborough. That said; I cannot believe, for even a minute, that he would throw this accusation out unless he was absolutely confident it was true.

  4. gVOR08 says:

    One may only hope that if by some mischance Trump gets elected someone in the military has the good sense to flip a couple of characters in his launch ID code.

  5. Mister Bluster says:

    Meg Whitman, a Hewlett Packard executive and Republican fund-raiser, said Tuesday that she would support Hillary Clinton for president and give a “substantial” contribution to her campaign in order to stop Donald J. Trump, whom she berated as a threat to American democracy.

    Money Can’t Buy You Love
    (or the Republican Primary in the Show Me State)
    Missouri Republicans backed by mega donor Rex Sinquefield lost big Tuesday night
    http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article93448552.html

  6. Jen says:

    @Mister Bluster: Eric Greitens won though–and I’m pretty sure he outspent the others, albeit with money from outside the state, rather than Sinquefield’s money.

  7. grumpy realist says:

    Kansas also seems to be drifting back towards the center.

  8. al-Alameda says:

    Meg Whitman, a Hewlett Packard executive and Republican fund-raiser, said Tuesday that she would support Hillary Clinton for president and give a “substantial” contribution to her campaign in order to stop Donald J. Trump, whom she berated as a threat to American democracy.

    “I will vote for Hillary, I will talk to my Republican friends about helping her, and I will donate to her campaign and try to raise money for her,” Ms. Whitman said in a telephone interview.

    Meg is a Silicon Valley Republican, a type that used to exist in far greater numbers in California politics – fiscal conservative, socially libertarian, and not prone to wild demagogic statements.

    Donald Trump is now proving to be what Bill Maher (a New York-New Jersey guy himself) said Trump is, paraphrasing, ‘a douche bag from Queens.’ Which is fine if you’re on the Coop Board of a Manhattan property, or even on a local city council, or perhaps a member of the Republican House, but … as president?

  9. Gustopher says:

    Is Meg Whitman really a “top” Republican? Trump has the toppest Republicans, the biggest Republicans and the best Republicans. Trump has the Republicans who hope to someday hold office, plus Bob Dole*.

    I’ll be more impressed when the elected Republicans start turning on him — a moment where they put country ahead of party.

    * I think Bob Dole is just trolling us. He was a big fan of a Trump-Gingrich ticket, and I’m pretty sure he hates Gingrich and just wanted him to suffer.

  10. Hal_10000 says:

    I’m sure this will persuade at least three of the six remaining California republicans.

  11. DrDaveT says:

    @Gustopher:

    Is Meg Whitman really a “top” Republican?

    No, but I think you’ve misread the parentheses these there. She’s not a (top Republican) donor; she’s a top (Republican donor).

  12. Kylopod says:

    @Gustopher:

    I think Bob Dole is just trolling us. He was a big fan of a Trump-Gingrich ticket, and I’m pretty sure he hates Gingrich and just wanted him to suffer.

    That isn’t even speculation. (I know we had this same exchange a few weeks ago, but I’ll reiterate it.) Do people not remember his blistering attack on Gingrich in 2012, which included such gems as the following:

    “Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty ice-bucket in his hand — that was a symbol of some sort for him — and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it.”

    Dole has always had a weird, dry, ironic sense of humor. (Remember, back in the day he was a frequent guest on The Daily Show.) He seems to love delivering backhanded insults, the kind where the targets might not even realize they’re being insulted, and this whole “Gingrich would make a great vp for Trump!” has all the markings of it; it almost reminds me of when John Lennon told reporters that Paul’s greatest song was “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road.”