Esper Defends Himself on Fox & Friends as ‘Reagan Republican’ Who Opposed Trump’s ‘Offensive’ Style and Failed Elections

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended himself on Fox News on Wednesday as a “Reagan Republican” who opposed former President Donald Trump’s “offensive style and failed elections.”

Esper, who came out with a book on Tuesday, said on Fox & Friends that Trump’s style was “unnecessarily coarse and divisive.”

“And what you need in a president, because I’m a Reagan Republican, you need a president that will bring people together, that can unite the country, that can lead,” he continued. “And if you’re Republican like I am, you want somebody that can grow the base. And the only way you can advance core Republican policies is if you grow the base, win the country and win elections. You have to win elections.”

Esper, who served as Pentagon chief between July 2019 and November 2020, criticized Trump in his book, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times. It included numerous revelations such as Trump wanting to launch missile strikes into Mexico to stop illegal drug labs and Trump wanting to shoot protesters in 2020.

In interviews promoting his book, Esper has called Trump a threat to democracy and said he would not vote for the former president were he to run in 2024.

Watch above, via Fox News.

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