Judge Luttig: Trump not fit to be president again

Retired federal Judge J. Michael Luttig said former President Trump is not fit to return to the presidency, writing in an op-ed piece for The New York Times published Tuesday that he no longer recognizes the Republican Party.

“We Americans live in faith with our Constitution and with the past generations of Americans who swore to protect it and fought to defend it,” wrote the conservative jurist, who has frequently criticized Trump in the past.

“One week from today, we will decide whether Donald Trump is fit to be president of the United States again. He is not.”

“When we entrusted our Constitution and our democracy to him before, he betrayed us,” wrote Luttig, who previously endorsed Vice President Harris for the White House.

“Campaigning for the presidency again, he now promises to exact vengeance against his fellow Americans whom he deems 'the enemy from within,’ those who have dared to challenge his betrayal, an enemies list that includes Republicans and Democrats alike,” he continued.

In an interview earlier this month, Trump suggested the use of the military or National Guard on Election Day to fight against what he referred to as possible disorder from “the enemy from within,” which he said includes “radical left lunatics.”

Luttig said in the Times piece that he is “70 years old and I have always voted for the Republican candidates for president because I never doubted they would honor their sacred obligations to our democracy and our Constitution.”

“I have never doubted the Democratic candidates for the presidency would honor their obligations, either,” he continued. “But today, I do not recognize the Republican Party that I have known across my lifetime. It is not the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan and neither is it conservative, as that term has been inspiringly invoked by conservatives since the founding.”

The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.