Former Republican Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge Endorses Biden

Former Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Sunday, claiming he will cast his first vote for a Democrat because President Donald Trump lacks “the empathy, integrity, intellect, and maturity to lead.”

“I will cast my vote for Joe Biden on Nov. 3,” Ridge wrote in an op-ed for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It will be my first vote for a Democratic candidate for president of the United States. But it is not the first time I have said ‘no’ to Donald Trump. I urge my fellow Pennsylvanians to join me.”

Ridge went on to remind readers of his anti-Trump bona fides, recalling that he was among the first Republicans to denounce Trump for being “an embarrassment to the Republican Party and our country.”

“I said he belittles, demeans, and ridicules people who disagree with him, and that I’ve never thought that loud, obnoxious, and simpleminded solutions to complex problems are the kind of qualities we want in a president. I believe that earned me my first of several Trump tweets of indignation,” Ridge continued.

Ridge, who served as the first secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, also hit at Trump for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, contrasting it with Bush’s leadership in the wake of 9/11. After recalling Bush’s speech on the rubble in lower Manhattan, Ridge said:

Compare and contrast that with the crisis of today. Imagine the impact of President Trump traveling to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention back in February, and talking plainly about the challenge Mother Nature intended to throw at us, and how this country, working together, public and private sector, would confront it with all the fortitude and resources we could bring to bear. Then imagine him meeting... (Read more)

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