Name: Tom Ridge says it’s ‘time to vote country over party,’ endorses Joe Biden
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Tom Ridge says it’s ‘time to vote country over party,’ endorses Joe Biden

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NEW!12,893sharesTom Ridge, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and first U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, plans to vote for Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, he announced on social media Sunday morning.This also will be the first time Ridge has ever voted Democratic in a U.S. presidential election, he told in an opinion column.“It’s time to put country over party. It’s time to dismiss Donald Trump,” he posted on Twitter.It’s time to put country over party. It’s time to dismiss Donald Trump. Why I’m voting for on November 3rd. — Gov. Tom Ridge (@RidgeGlobal) Ridge told The Inquirer in the piece published Sunday he actually considers it a point of personal pride to be. It wasn’t the first time he’s dismissed Trump either. He goes on to say in December 2015 he told he could never support Trump.“I said then that he was an embarrassment to the Republican Party and our country,” Ridge stated. “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 compared the coronavirus pandemic to his time leading the Department of Homeland Security following the 9/11 terror attacks. He credited U.S. President George W. Bush in then unifying the country while comparing Trump as incapable and significantly falling short. The current president, he stated, could have traveled to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February and talked plainly about the challenge Mother Nature intended to throw at Americans and how it could be faced “with all the fortitude and resources we could bring to bear.”“Perhaps I have more trust in Americans being able to handle the truth than the president,” Ridge stated.In supporting Biden, Ridge also stated the former vice president has the experience and empathy necessary to help Americans navigate not only the pandemic, but also other issues that have fractured the nation, including social injustice, income inequality and immigration reform.Ridge currently serves as the chairman of , which provides clients with solutions to cyber security, international security and risk management issues. After 9/11, he became the first assistant to the President for Homeland Security and in January 2003, became the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. President George W. Bush stated in he had the “strength, experience, personal commitment and authority to accomplish this critical mission.”During his DHS tenure, Ridge worked with more than 180,000 employees from a combined 22 agencies to create an agency that facilitated the flow of people and goods; instituted layered security at air, land and seaports; developed a unified national response and recovery plan; protected critical infrastructure; integrated new technology; and improved information sharing worldwide, according to his website.Ridge was of Pennsylvania. He served as the state’s 43rd governor from 1995 to 2001 and prior, was one of the first Vietnam combat veterans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, in which he served six terms.Ridge isn’t the first Pennsylvania Republican lawmaker to endorse Biden.Former U.S. Rep. in an August opinion piece for CNN stated . He also didn’t back Trump in 2016, then stating he was casting his vote for independent candidate Evan McMullin, a former CIA operations officer.Dent labeled Trump “a threat to the rule of law and functional democracy” and not representative of the Republican Party that he knows.“: He is an illiberal populist and nativist whose chaotic approach and managerial malfeasance have undermined the functioning of government,” Dent wrote on ., whether it’s a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at .Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!12,893sharesTom Ridge, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and first U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, plans to vote for Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, he announced on social media Sunday morning.This also will be the first time Ridge has ever voted Democratic in a U.S. presidential election, he told in an opinion column.“It’s time to put country over party. It’s time to dismiss Donald Trump,” he posted on Twitter.It’s time to put country over party. It’s time to dismiss Donald Trump. Why I’m voting for on November 3rd. — Gov. Tom Ridge...

Tom Ridge says it’s ‘time to vote country over party,’ endorses Joe Biden

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