A former CIA director has said he will vote for a third party candidate in the upcoming US presidential election because he is “uncomfortable” with both the Democratic and the Republican nominees.
Michael Hayden told the Cats Roundtable radio show on Sunday: “I’m uncomfortable with the nominee of both of the major political parties” adding that “a vote is taking our sacred suffrage, our chunk of sovereignty, and bestowing it on someone because he or she is worthy, and I’m having trouble getting to that point with either of the major candidates“
Press TV reports:
Having served under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the former spymaster has shown no hesitation in attacking Trump and Clinton throughout their presidential campaigns.
Hayden, a retired US Air Force four-star general who led the CIA from 2006 to 2009 as well as the NSA from 2006 to 2009, has called Trump “incoherent” and a threat to national security.
He has also heavily criticized Clinton for using a private email server to exchange classified data. Nonetheless, he prefers the former first lady to Trump and thinks she is better prepared to run the country.
Hayden’s comments echoe a growing interest for third party candidates among American voters due to Trump and Clinton’s unpopularity.
Currently, Libertarian Gary Jonson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are running the only third party tickets, trying to make the best of Clinton’s and Trump’s historic unpopularity.
Niamh Harris