CNN Anchor Presses John Bolton On Refusal To Endorse Either Harris or Trump After His Write-in Pick, Dick Cheney, Backs Dems

John Bolton told CNN he still plans on casting a “protest vote” in the 2024 presidential election after his original pick for a write-in candidate Dick Cheney endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

Bolton served as National Security Advisor under former President Donald Trump, but he’s since made stark warnings about his ex-boss returning to the White House. When Trump announced Bolton was leaving his administration in 2019, he cited he “disagreed strongly” with many of Bolton’s “suggestions.”

Speaking with Kasie Hunt on CNN This Morning on Thursday, Bolton argued both Trump and Harris are unqualified for the presidency and he refuses to choose between the two candidates. He refused to say either one edged out the other when pressed on multiple specific issues by Hunt.

“It’s caused me to reassess whether to vote for Dick. I’m looking to vote for a conservative Republican, and I certainly think Dick is a conservative Republican. If he were to win, you know, not much chance of that, I suppose, I don’t think he’d put Kamala Harris in his cabinet,” he said about Cheney endorsing Harris.

In his endorsement, Cheney said there “has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.” The former vice president said he was putting “country above partisanship to defend our Constitution.”

Bolton said his protest vote may now be for the late President Ronald Reagan.

“I had originally thought in 2020 that I’d write in Ronald Reagan to make the point even more effectively and maybe that’s what I’ll do this time. I am not going to vote for either Harris or Trump. Neither one are qualified to be president,” he said.

“Who do you think would be the better person to steward this conflict in the Middle East from an American perspective?” Hunt asked. “I mean, you have talked about the stakes. Would you rather see Kamala Harris in the Situation Room next year or Donald Trump.

“I don’t want to see either one of them for different reasons,” Bolton said.

Hunt pushed back, informing the former United Nations ambassador that “it’s going to be one or the other” in the White House.

Bolton said he’s “worried” for the United States no matter who wins.

“They’re both unacceptable to me. That’s a matter of conscience on my part. I’m not going to choose between two unacceptable alternatives on the grounds that one is less unacceptable than the other,” he said. “Neither one meet the minimum test of whether they should be president to begin with. I understand, obviously, that one of them will win, but I’m going to cast a protest vote.”

Watch above via CNN.