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Colin Powell Says He's Voting for Hillary Clinton

After badmouthing her in private emails that have since leaked, it looks like the former secretary of state is settling on voting for the only viable alternative to Donald Trump.
Department of Defense photo by Marvin Lynchard

Former secretary of state Colin Powell has joined an already long list of prominent Republicans voting for Clinton in November. Powell made the announcement at a luncheon in Long Island on Tuesday, and his chief of staff has since confirmed the announcement, according to CNN.

Powell served under George W. Bush and remains a Republican, but this is the third consecutive election he's backed a Democratic presidential nominee, Politico reports.

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The retired four-star general was quoted saying some less-than-flattering comments about the Democratic nominee and her husband in some leaked emails last September, but expressed far more disdain for his own party's nominee, calling Trump a "national disgrace and an international pariah."

"[Clinton has] a long track record, unbridled ambition, greedy, not transformational, with a husband still dicking bimbos at home," Powell wrote in an email. He also expressed annoyance that she involved him in the scandal over her private email server by claiming that he told her to use a personal account while secretary of state.

"I would rather not have to vote for her," he said. "Although she is a friend I respect."

It seems like Powell, like many voters this election, is settling for the only major-party alternative to Trump.

Read: The WikiLeaks Emails Show How a Clinton White House Might Operate