Former top Republican General Powell endorses Biden for president
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With his endorsement of Biden, Powel became the first major Republican to publicly back Donald Trump's rival ahead of November's election.
Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell on Sunday endorsed Trump's Democratic rival and former US Vice President Joe Biden.
With his endorsement of Biden, Powel became the first major Republican to publicly back Biden ahead of November's election.
Powell, who led the US military during the 1991 Gulf War in Iraq under Republican former President George HW Bush and later led the Department of State under President George W. Bush, said Trump has "drifted away" from the U.S. Constitution and posed a danger the country and its democracy.
"I cannot in any way support President Trump this year," Powell, who did not vote for the Republican president in 2016, told CNN. Asked if he would vote for Biden, he added: "I will be voting for him."
Trump, who has been critical of the Iraq war, in a tweet called Powell "a real stiff."
Powell is the latest former top military officer to rebuke Trump in the wake of sweeping mass protests aimed at fighting racial injustice spurred by the May 25 death of an unarmed black man in Minnesota.
(With inputs from Reuters)