Colin Powell tells Republicans to 'get a grip' as he calls U.S. foreign policy 'a shambles' and tells senators and House members to stop being scared of speaking out against Donald Trump

  • Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Republican lawmakers need to 'get a grip' and stand up to the president
  • They are 'holding back because they're terrified of what will happen to any one of them if they speak up,' Powell said
  • The retired four-star general was speaking at a lecture on October 1
  •  He also said they need to speak up because he claims 'our foreign policy is a shambles right now'
  • Powell said GOP lawmakers are scared they won't win their reelection  

A retired four-star general who served under three Republican administrations told the GOP in a recently shared lecture that they need to 'get a grip.'

Colin Powell said foriegn policy is the U.S. is 'a shambles right now,' and claimed Republican lawmakers are 'terrified' they might lose their primary elections if they stand up to or speak out against the president.

'The Republican Party has got to get a grip on itself,' Powell said in a lecture last Tuesday. 'Right now the Republican leaders and members of the Congress, both Senate and House, are holding back because they're terrified of what will happen to any one of them if they speak up. Will they lose a primary? I don't know why that's such a disaster.'

'When they see things that aren't right they need to say something about it,' Powell continued. 'Because our foreign policy is a shambles right now, in my humble judgement. And I see things happening that are hard to understand.'

Powell joined CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria and the first ever female U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for an October 1 lecture, which gained traction after CNN shared video of the event on its Twitter page over the weekend.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Republican lawmakers need to 'get a grip' and stand up to the president. He said they're 'holding back because they're terrified' they won't win reelection

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Republican lawmakers need to 'get a grip' and stand up to the president. He said they're 'holding back because they're terrified' they won't win reelection

At a lecture where he was joined by the first ever female U.S. secretary os state Madeleine Albright (middle), Powell said they would have stood up to the president during their tenure. He also called Trump's foreign policy 'a shambles'

At a lecture where he was joined by the first ever female U.S. secretary os state Madeleine Albright (middle), Powell said they would have stood up to the president during their tenure. He also called Trump's foreign policy 'a shambles'

Powell served as secretary of state under George W. Bush, was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in George H. W. Bush's administration and was national security adviser to Ronald Reagan.

But during the lecture, he appeared hesitant to call himself a Republican, and in recent years Powell has leaned toward Democratic candidates – expressing support for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

'I'm a moderate Republican who believes we should have a strong foreign policy, a strong defense policy, but we have to look out for our people,' Powell said. 'And ought to work hard to make sure we're one country, one team. And so on that basis, I called myself a Republican.'

He also noted that he had not been affiliated with a party throughout his military career.

Powell has been measured when speaking publicly about the current president, and admitted in 2016 that he decided to vote for Hillary Clinton because she was more qualified. Later he conceded that he felt Trump was not a moral leader.

The year of the 2016 presidential elections, Powell's email was hacked and leaked online, and in one message to a former aide he called then-candidate Trump a 'national disgrace.'

At the lecture, Powell also referenced a September incident when Trump appeared to share an altered hurricane weather map that contradicted weather forecasts.

Powell and Ronald Reagan
Powell and George H. W. Bush

Powell was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in George H. W. Bush's administration and was national security adviser to Ronald Reagan

He also served as secretary of state under George W. Bush, but hesitated to call himself a Republican during the lecture, and recently has expressed support for Democrats – including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

He also served as secretary of state under George W. Bush, but hesitated to call himself a Republican during the lecture, and recently has expressed support for Democrats – including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

'In my time, in her time, one of us would have gone to the President and said, 'you screwed up,'' Powell said, referring to Albright, who served as head of the State Department under Bill Clinton. 'So we've got to fix it, and we'll put out a correction.'

'You know what happened this time? They ordered the Commerce Department to go out and back up whatever the President has said,' Powell continued. 'This is not the way the country is supposed to run, and Congress is one of the institutions that should be doing something about this. All parts of Congress.'

As Powell's comments circulate, the president made a controversial foreign policy move that shook up Washington Monday morning.

Trump decided to withdraw troops from parts of northern Syria, which he defended as part of a larger policy of pulling U.S. troops out of 'ridiculous Endless Wars.' He also insisted in a Twitter thread that the ISIS caliphate is now '100%' defeated.

The removal of troops from this region is a move that will make way for a Turkish invasion in the region and likely doom the Kurdish fighters who the U.S. has been aiding for years.