Former Attorney General Bill Barr is backing his old boss in the November election despite their very public fallout — because he believes the “far left” is an even greaten threat to the US.
Barr, 73, disputed the notion that former President Donald Trump will be worse for democracy than President Biden, and warned about the rise of the “far left.”
“The Biden administration is in fact the greater threat to democracy,” Barr told Fox News’ “Cavuto Live” on Saturday.
“I think that they have a totalitarian temper. They have bought into the progressive movement. And they’re trying to squelch opposition and freedom of speech.”
“It’s a heavy-handed bunch of thugs in my opinion, and that’s where the threat is,” Barr said at another point about the far-left.
The former attorney general had a tumultuous and bitter last couple of weeks in the Trump White House and clashed with then-President Trump over his claims about election fraud.
Barr was adamant that there was no proof of Trump’s allegations and ultimately announced in December 2020 that he would step down from his post early.
Since then, Barr quickly emerged as one of Trump’s loudest critics from his first administration in the public domain. He urged Republican voters to select one of his primary rivals in the 2024 cycle.
Additionally, Barr has opined on Trump’s various legal woes and in some instances suggested his old boss may have violated the law, while caveating he didn’t want to see him behind bars.
Trump has periodically lashed out at Barr, bashing him as ” Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy” among other attacks. But Barr had kept voting for him on the table nonetheless.
“I have made clear that I strongly oppose Trump for the nomination and will not endorse Trump,” Barr told NBC News in July of last year.
However, at times, Barr also explained that “it’s inconceivable to me that I wouldn’t vote for the Republican nominee.”
“I’m not happy with the choice. I think it’s a terrible choice for the country. But it is a choice. At the end of the day, we have to select between two individuals,” Barr said Saturday.
He cited a litany of policy concerns such as the “avalanche of regulations” and other traditional conservative priorities as part of his rationale for picking Trump.
“I was fine with his policies. I think his policies were good policies. My problems came with his behavior, which I found very troubling after the election,” Barr said.
Last Wednesday, Barr caused a stir by revealing that he intended to support his old boss ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
“Trump may be playing Russian roulette, but a continuation of the Biden administration is national suicide, in my opinion,” Barr told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” Wednesday.
Biden has largely predicated his 2024 reelection campaign on the notion that Trump poses a grave threat to democracy.
Barr also mused that should Trump emerge victorious, he will run into trouble recruiting talent into his administration given his unencumbered style of politics and antics.
He also posited that Trump will likely place a high premium on tracking down individuals for key posts whom “he feels would be more subservient to him.”
A bevy of prominent anti-Trump Republicans such as Barr have begun rallying around the former president now that he is the de facto nominee.
The Post contacted the Biden campaign for comment.