Donald Trump Would Be ‘Most Reckless President’ in History, Say 50 GOP Leaders

National security officials sign letter saying Trump “lacks the character, values and experience” to be president

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Fifty prominent Republican national security officials have signed a letter saying that Donald Trump “would put at risk our country’s national security and well being.”

According to the New York Times, the GOP leaders believe that Trump “lacks the character, values and experience” to be commander-in-chief and “would be the most reckless president in American history.”

Many of the Republicans who spoke with the Times are former top aides to Republican President George W. Bush or cabinet members in his administration.

The letter also states that Trump “is unable or unwilling to separate truth from falsehood,” “does not encourage conflicting views,” “lacks self-control and acts impetuously,” “cannot tolerate personal criticism” and “has shown no interest in educating himself.”

“None of us will vote for Donald Trump” and many Americans “have doubts about Hillary Clinton, as do many of us,” the officials write in the letter, according to the Times.

Michael Hayden, John Negroponte, Robert Zoellick, Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff, Eric Edelman, Robert Blackwill, James Jeffrey and William H. Taft IV are among the prominent Republicans mentioned by the Times as individuals who signed the letter.

The paper notes that Hillary Clinton’s campaign was aware of the letter and even encouraged it.

Earlier on Monday, anti-Trump ex-CIA agent Evan McMullin declared that he would run as an independent conservative. Prominent members of the Republican anti-Trump movement are involved with McMullin’s potential campaign, according to BuzzFeed.

“In a year where Americans have lost faith in the candidates of both major parties, it’s time for a generation of new leadership to step up,” McMullin said in a statement to ABC News. “It’s never too late to do the right thing, and America deserves much better than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton can offer us. I humbly offer myself as a leader who can give millions of disaffected Americans a conservative choice for President.”

The news comes after a fraught week in which Trump attacked Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of fallen Muslim-American Iraq War hero Humayun Khan, who appeared at the Democratic Convention to criticize the GOP nominee’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Shortly after, nude photos of Trump’s wife, Melania, leaked online, and he was also ripped for kicking a crying baby out of a campaign rally.

In addition, Trump temporarily refused to endorse Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan for re-election and said he always wanted to receive a Purple Heart but felt it was “much easier” to be given one by a supporter than to be wounded in battle.

The week ended with a report in Politico stating that 70 percent of GOP insiders want their own party’s nominee to drop out of the race.

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