A former speechwriter and adviser to President George W. Bush is telling Republicans “it’s time to panic” over President Trump’s fitness for office.
Michael Gerson, who’s also a columnist for the Washington Post, wrote in an op-ed Friday that “the security of our country — and potentially the lives of millions of people abroad — depends on Trump being someone else entirely.”
“The time for whispered criticisms and quiet snickering is over. The time for panic and decision is upon us. The thin line of sane, responsible advisers at the White House — such as Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — could break at any moment,” Gerson wrote. “The American government now has a dangerous fragility at its very center. Its welfare is as thin as an eggshell — perhaps as thin as Donald Trump’s skin.”
The op-ed comes amid Trump’s feud with Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who warned that the president’s reckless threats could lead to “World War III.”
“I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it’s a situation of trying to contain him,” Corker told the New York Times.
Corker claimed many of his colleagues have the same fears.
Gerson accused House Speaker Paul Ryan of “bland complacency” in Trump’s actions.
“The nation has need of Republican vertebrates,” he wrote.
