Colin Powell says he'll vote for Hillary Clinton

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Clinton campaign getting ahead of itself?

Glenn Hall, US editor of The Wall Street Journal, explains

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a veteran of three Republican administrations, said Tuesday that he would vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton in this year's presidential election.

Powell endorsed Clinton at a Long Island luncheon for local business and political leaders. According to Newsday, Powell said that Republican nominee Donald Trump had "insulted America in one way [or another] almost every day" of his campaign.

"He has insulted Latino-Americans. He has insulted African-Americans. He has insulted women," Powell said. "He has insulted his own party. He has insulted our allies around the world one by one. He has insulted veterans."

By contrast, Powell described Clinton as "smart ... capable [and] a good Secretary of State" who would "is fully qualified to serve as the president of the United States and will serve it with distinction."

Powell had criticized Clinton for using a personal email server while secretary of state, at one point accusing her of trying to "pin" the scandal on him after Clinton claimed Powell's own email practices at the State Department were comparable to what she had done.

"I saw email more like a telephone than a cable machine,” Powell wrote in an email to his business parter that was made public by hackers. "As long as the stuff is unclassified. I had a secure State.gov machine [for classified material]. Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris."

Powell served as national security advisor under Ronald Reagan, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George H.W. Bush and secretary of state during George W. Bush's first term.

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