Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has joined a growing number of Republicans who are not only declining to vote for Hillary Clinton, but are also refusing to vote for their party’s candidate.
Fleischer, who served former President George W. Bush, announced his decision to leave the option for president blank on his 2016 ticket in an op-ed for The Washington Post published on Friday.
“On Tuesday, if someone puts a gun to my head and tells me to make a choice, I’ll say ‘shoot,'” Fleischer writes.
Fleischer said he would vote Republican for the entirety of the ballot, just not for Donald Trump. And he remains adamantly opposed to Clinton, citing “the numerous lies she told about her private email server and classified records,” among others.
“Those lies were the warm-up act — get ready for really dishonest Clinton if she wins,” he writes.
“If this race were about change, Clinton or policy, Trump could win it. But he made it about himself. Because he is one of the most unpopular people ever to run for president, that was a big mistake,” Fleischer continued.
With three days until Election Day, Americans who are on the fence or undecided are running out of time to make their final decision for president. Instead of leaving the ballot blank like Fleischer, those who are opposed to both major party candidates have chosen to write-in.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich — a former 2016 GOP presidential contender — voted for Arizona Sen. John McCain, voting straight Republican down the ballot, said his spokesman, Chris Schrimpf.