In an interview with Walter Isaacson at the Washington Ideas Forum in Washington, D.C., former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who endorsed President Barack Obama’s presidential candidacies in 2008 and 2012, declared he was still a “Republican,” but not the reasons many others are loyal to the GOP.
“I want to continue to be a Republican because it annoys them,” Powell said.
Powell went on to say he still supports some of the traditional planks of the Republican Party, but admitted he does have some differences.
“In Virginia, you don’t have to declare a party … but I’m still a Republican because I believe in a strong defense, because I believe in the entrepreneurial spirit that is so typical of the Republican Party in the past. But I’m having difficulty with the party now,” he said.
As for the current make-up of the party, Powell said it had shifted too far to the right in his view.
“I think the party has shifted much further right than where the country is and it should be obvious to party leaders that they cannot keep saying and doing the things that they were doing and hope to be successful in national-level election in the future, not just in 2016,” Powell added.
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