Former Navy Adm. William McRaven, the man who oversaw the successful mission that killed Osama bin Laden, announced he voted for Joe Biden.
McRaven, who served as commander of U.S. Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014, announced his vote in an op-ed published Monday in the Wall Street Journal. In the piece, he speaks of his conservative bona fides and laments about, without specifically using his name, President Trump’s tenure as commander-in-chief.
“Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national-anthem-standing conservative. But, I also believe that black lives matter, that the Dreamers deserve a path to citizenship, that diversity and inclusion are essential to our national success, that education is the great equalizer, that climate change is real and that the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy,” he said in the editorial, noting that he recently voted in Texas.
McRaven has been critical about Trump in the past and said that “the world no longer looks up to America.”
“They have seen us tear up our treaties, leave our allies on the battlefield and cozy up to despots and dictators. They have seen our incompetence in handling the pandemic and the wildfires. They have seen us struggle with social injustice,” he wrote.
He went on to praise Biden for understanding the “importance of American leadership” both here in the U.S. and abroad and pegged him as the candidate for bringing about more unity in the country.
“We need a leader of integrity whose decency and sense of respect reflects the values we expect from our president. We need a president for all Americans, not just half of America,” the former admiral said.
“If we remain indifferent to our role in the world, if we retreat from our obligation to our citizens and our allies and if we fail to choose the right leader, then we will pay the highest price for our neglect and shortsightedness,” he added.
Endorsements and political attacks alike have increased in recent days as the election draws nearer. With exactly two weeks until Election Day, polls show Biden ahead nationally and leading many key battleground states. A RealClearPolitics national average of polls has Biden with an 8.6-point lead over the president.
