National Security Experts Issue Warning On Trump
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Dozens of conservative national security experts are warning that Donald Trump is unfit to be commander in chief.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and more than 70 others say they're united in their opposition to a Trump presidency.
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They say Trump's "embrace of the expansive use of torture'' is inexcusable. They also object to what they say is Trump's "hateful, anti-Muslim rhetoric'' and his advocacy for waging trade wars.
The letter says Trump's vision of "American influence and power in the world is wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle.''
Among the experts who signed on was Frances Townsend, homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to President George W. Bush.
"Donald Trump hasn't ever had the experience in terms of having to get something done in terms of foreign policy," Townsend told "CBS This Morning" on Thursday. "The people who signed this letter have and do understand what it takes. This is not a real estate deal."
Eliot Cohen, a former counselor to the State Department and Dov Zakheim, a former Pentagon comptroller, also signed the letter.
The warning comes on the same day as former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is telling Republican voters that Trump is a "phony'' who must be defeated to avoid profoundly negative consequences for the party and the country.
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