Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates — promptly booted by President Donald Trump days after taking office — is backing Joe Biden's run for the White House, declaring, "I trust him."
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution posted Thursday, Yates said she has quietly supported the former vice president for months but will now loudly advocate for him ahead of Georgia's March 24 primary.
"At its core, I'm supporting Joe Biden because I trust him," she told the news outlet.
"I trust his judgment, and his character," she told the AJC. "I trust him to make decisions for the right reasons, and to put our country's interest first and to unite us rather than divide us."
Yates shot into the national spotlight when in her role as acting attorney general at the start of the Trump administration she ordered the Justice Department not to defend the GOP president's immigration policy. Trump fired her hours later.
"I'm not a particularly political person," she told the AJC. "This is unusual for me. But I feel really strongly about this. When the vice president says this is about the soul of America, that's not hyperbole. There's a lot at stake – too much at stake – to sit on the sidelines. That's why I wanted to step up and do what I can."
Asked when she decided to jump publicly behind Biden she replied, "I guess I've watched over the last three years what's happened to our country."
"We can survive four years of our current president," she told the AJC. "I have to tell you, though, at the end of eight years we're not going to recognize the country that we've become."
"This election is that important. This is why you see a lot of people are active now that might not have been on the front lines of political campaigns before. It's just not the same as it was before."
Yates served with Biden in the final two years of the Obama administration.
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