Colin Powell, who is usually a model of public restraint, apparently was not so much in his emails.
The former secretary of state under George W. Bush had harsh words for both presidential nominees in emails made public that were apparently hacked.
In the emails from the past few months and going back to last year, Powell called GOP nominee Donald Trump a "national disgrace," an "international pariah" with "no sense of shame," who is leading a "racist" movement — because of Trump's leading the "birther" movement and having questioned President Obama's religion.
He didn't hold back much for Hillary Clinton either, saying, "Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris."
The emails, first posted by DCLeaks.com — a site MSNBC reported has rumored ties to Russian intelligence — and reported by BuzzFeed News, go into more detail about Powell's views on the two candidates. Some of the choice excerpts, according to different outlets:
On Trump: To call him "an idiot just emboldens him"
Per BuzzFeed, Powell wrote to former aide Emily Miller, a correspondent with the conservative One America News Network, on the birther movement:
"Yup, the whole birther movement was racist. That's what the 99% believe. When Trump couldn't keep that up he said he also wanted to see if the certificate noted that he was a Muslim."
Powell told Miller, according to BuzzFeed, that Trump "is in the process of destroying himself, no need for Dems to attack him. Paul Ryan is calibrating his position again."