John Bolton's spokesperson reacted to an interview with the former national security adviser in The Daily Telegraph, where, according to the outlet, Bolton said that he was intending to vote in the November presidential election for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden over fellow Republican Trump.
According to the spokesperson's statement, the report was "incorrect".
"This statement is incorrect. The Ambassador never said he planned to vote for Joe Biden," Bolton spokesperson Sarah Tinsley told Axios. "He has consistently said in recent days he will be writing in the name of a conservative Republican. Let there be no doubt — he will not be voting for Trump or Biden."
Just in, a Bolton spokesperson on the Telegraph story:
— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) June 21, 2020
"It is incorrect. He will not be voting for Joe Biden, nor will he be voting for Donald Trump." https://t.co/zAUHT1LG8c
In an ABC interview excerpt published later on Sunday, Bolton stated that he was not going "to vote for him [Trump] in November --certainly not going to vote for Joe Biden either".
Bolton on Trump: “I don't think he's a conservative Republican. I'm not going to vote for him in November -- certainly not going to vote for Joe Biden either. I'm going to figure out a conservative Republican to vote in.” https://t.co/lf1PKT3eJc
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) June 22, 2020
Earlier, The Daily Telegraph published a story, saying that in the interview on Sunday the former US National Security Advisor, John Bolton, expressed his intention to vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming 2020 US presidential election.
BREAKING: John Bolton tells The Daily Telegraph he plans to vote for Joe Biden in November. https://t.co/8DdfOKkvAr
— Axios (@axios) June 21, 2020
Bingo. The Daily Telegraph asserted that Bolton was voting for Biden but didn’t have the quote to prove it. https://t.co/MBrrzZNgbl pic.twitter.com/WcvHt6QLRu
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) June 22, 2020
According to the initial story, Bolton was reported as saying that the reason behind his decision to endorse the representative of the Democratic party, Joe Biden, is that Trump no longer represents Republican values.
“In 2016 I voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton,” Bolton told the Telegraph. “Now, having seen this president up close, I cannot do this again. My concern is for the country, and he does not represent the Republican cause that I want to back.”
Bolton argued that Trump has no “strategy” and does not differentiate between personal and national interests.
“The president does not have a philosophical grounding or strategy,” the former Trump appointee observed. “He does not know the difference between the national interest of the US, and the interests of Donald Trump. There is confusion over the national interest and his personal interest, which is very dangerous for the country.”
Bolton also criticized the former reality show producer's ability to be a US president.
“When you are in a senior position you have an obligation to tell the truth,” he added. "I was concerned after 17 months in the administration that he [Trump] did not have the requisite competence to be president, and the American people need to know about that.”
Bolton, who served in the White House from April 2018 to September 2019, will release a tell-all memoir on Tuesday titled ‘The Room Where It Happened’, on Trump’s dealings with foreign nations and his handling of major domestic issues.
