LEWISTON, Maine - Former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Maine U.S. Sen. Bill Cohen has joined a growing list of Republicans criticizing GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's recent performance.
Appearing on BBC television this week, Cohen said he was "appalled" by Trump's criticism of the Khan family "and the way he said it." The Khans are the parents of a Muslim American soldier who was awarded a purple heart after being killed in combat in Iraq. They were invited to speak about their son at the Democratic convention.
"For him to, number one, criticize Mr. Khan by suggesting that Hillary Clinton may have written his speech, and, number two, to go after Mrs. Khan and indicate her silence must be telling us something. Maybe she can't talk. Maybe Sharia law. I thought it was beneath anyone to do that," Cohen said.
When asked by the BBC host whether he had ever seen a politician attack the family of an American soldier before, Cohen said he has not. He said Trump has repeatedly violated unspoken rules not to embarrass the handicapped, not to attack prisoners of war and to never, ever criticize a Gold Star mother such as Mrs. Khan.
"I would have thought he would have known that, but apparently his first instinct is always to strike out, diminish and demean, and that's something that's certainly not becoming of him or any candidate."
Cohen, who served Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001, is a Republican who says he continues to support Republican candidates. But Cohen says it is unlikely that he'll be voting for Trump. Cohen himself represented Maine in Congress from 1973 to 1997, both in the U.S. House of Representatives and as a member of the Senate.
Cohen says he finds it "very difficult" to have Trump at the top of the ticket. He says he has been dismayed by Trump's lack of knowledge about foreign policy and his suggestion that the U.S. would not come to the aid of any NATO member that is attacked unless they paid their dues.
"Just to hint and suggest that," Cohen said, "is very damaging to a potential commander-in-chief."
He says he has tried to withhold public statements about whether he would actually vote for Trump until now.
"I have found very little, if anything, that I could find supporting him as a commander-in-chief, given what he's said about John McCain, given what he's said about the Khan family, given what he's said about NATO and given what he's said about President Putin being a strong leader," Cohen said. "That's not the leader I want to see for this country."
