Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper went on the offensive, declaring former President Donald Trump’s style as “unnecessarily coarse and divisive.” A video published by Mediaite shows Esper appearing on Tuesday’s “Fox & Friends” to promote his new book.
Some pundits describe Esper as a “never Trumper” or a guy who left the administration and profited from speaking out against his former boss. Esper prefers to describe himself as a “Regan Republican.”
“And if you’re Republican like I am, you want somebody that can grow the base. And the only way you can advance core Republican policies is if you grow the base, win the country, and win elections. You have to win elections.”
Esper served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Negotiations Policy at the Pentagon During the President George W. Bush administration before he was named Defense Secretary under Trump.
Esper has called Trump a threat to democracy and said he would not vote for the former president were he to run in 2024.
“I hope that the Republican base can figure out that while President Trump pushed a lot of traditional Republican ideas,” Esper said.
“There are other candidates out there who could run that could do it without dividing the people, without creating such tension within the country, and do it by growing the base as well.”
