AUSTIN (KXAN/CNN) — A retired U.S. Navy admiral and former head of U.S. Special Operations Command — and the man who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden — said he voted for Democrat Joe Biden for president.
In an editorial for The Wall Street Journal titled “Biden Will Make America Lead Again,” William McRaven wrote:
“Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national-anthem-standing conservative. But, I also believe that black lives matter, that the Dreamers deserve a path to citizenship, that diversity and inclusion are essential to our national success, that education is the great equalizer, that climate change is real and that the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy.”
McRaven elaborated by saying that “the world no longer looks up to America” and that the world needs America’s leadership.
“They have seen our incompetence in handling the pandemic and the wildfires. They have seen us struggle with social injustice,” McRaven wrote. “They no longer think we can lead, because they have seen an ineptness and a disdain for civility that is beyond anything in their memory.”
McRaven, who previously served as UT Austin System Chancellor, has been critical of President Donald Trump. Last year, the retired admiral wrote another op-ed in The New York Times, writing that the U.S. is under attack from its own president.