Mark Esper: ‘We need a new generation of Republican leaders’

Former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who served under Donald Trump, has said that he would not vote to reelect the former US president in 2024.

“We need a new generation of Republican leaders,” Esper told MSNBC on Tuesday.

When asked if he would vote for Trump if he runs for the White House again, Esper said: “No, and I’ll tell you why. Because in my view, any elected leader needs to meet some basic criteria: they need to be able to put country over self, they need to have a certain amount of integrity and principle, they need to be able to reach across the aisle and bring people together and unite the country. Look, Donald Trump doesn’t meet those marks for me.”

American journalist Don Debar said, “And yet when Trump offered him a job he snapped it right up. It tells you everything about his character, doesn't it? Using his own criteria.”

“By the way, Esper might want to actually speak to some of those Republicans out there. I saw the standing ovation Trump got from the assembled Republican Party apparatus at the 2016 convention when he said he was going to end these wars and occupations. And I'll remind people Trump was the first president since Gerald Ford who didn't start a new war,” he added.

Trump dominates the field of potential candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential field, according to multiple polls.

For months, Trump has floated the idea of a 2024 rematch against President Joe Biden. But in recent weeks, he has signaled strongly that he may be more likely to run again than not.

Recent opinion polls have depicted a gloomy landscape for Democrats as they gear up for the 2022 midterm elections.

Trump, who believes that the election was rigged by the Washington establishment in favor of Biden, has alleged that the 2020 election was “the greatest Election Hoax in history.”

Esper said that the United States needs a “new generation of Republican leaders” who can both advance a GOP agenda and unite the country.

“We need a new generation of Republican leaders who will advance those core items for any Republican, right: stronger military, lower taxes, deregulation, conservative judges, you name it, we need people who can do it while also growing the Republican base and uniting the country,” Esper said.

The former Pentagon chief slammed “extreme partisanship” in both parties, saying people should be united to accomplish items that will benefit the whole country.

“The biggest threat we face today, I’m afraid, is extreme partisanship on both sides of the aisle that is causing dysfunction in Washington, D.C. and not allowing us to address these major issues—whether it’s China or the budget, you name it, we have to solve this problem and we need a leader that can do that,” Esper said.

A recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll found that Republicans maintain a clear lead on the congressional ballot over Democrats as Biden's approval rating plunges to a new low of 38 percent.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans, 64 percent, say they do not want Biden to run for a second term in 2024, including a troubling 28 percent of Democrats.

Biden has proven a disappointment for many who voted him into office last year, with 16 percent of those surveyed saying he has done a worse job as president than they expected. Overall, 46 percent of Americans hold that view.

More worrying for Biden, another new survey by the Emerson College has found that Trump would beat the incumbent by two points – 45 to 43 percent - if the election was held today.

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