Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, saying President Donald is not fit to remain in office, is urging fellow Republicans to call for his resignation.
Whitman, who also served as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush, made her comments in a column posted by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.
"President Trump's disgraceful performance in Helsinki, Finland, and in the days since is an indication that he is not fit to remain in office," she said. "Trump's 2016 'America First' platform might be more aptly named 'Russia First' after the disaster that occurred last week.
"Trump's turn toward Russia is indefensible. … My Republican colleagues — once rightfully critical of President (Barack) Obama's engagement strategy with Russian leader Vladimir Putin — have to end their willful ignorance of the damage Trump is doing both domestically and internationally.
"We must put aside the GOP label, as hard as that may be, and demonstrate the leadership our country needs by calling on the president to step down."
Whitman said she was deeply disturbed by Trump's repeated dismissals of intelligence officials' "hard evidence of Putin's direct role in undermining our elections."
"Along with his walk back of statements last week, and then walking back the walk backs, it's impossible to keep up, and his behavior warrants a fresh evaluation of whether the president can be trusted with the future of the United States," she said.
And Whitman claimed Trump's "avowed respect" for Putin is "utterly dangerous."
"As a candidate and as president, he has constantly praised Putin just as he has constantly undercut the core institutions of our democracy — the courts, the media and the FBI," she said.
Whitman added: "If he cannot take his place at a podium next to an adversarial foreign leader and stand up for America's interests and principles, he should not be president."
She called on Republicans in Congress to implement "tougher, tangible" sanctions against Russia to weaken Putin and hurt those who benefit from his power.
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