Colin Powell slams GOP for 'idiot presentations,' 'demonizing' the president' [VIDEO]

ABC’s Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos interviewed Colin Powell during their live coverage of the inauguration Monday, during which the former secretary of state sounded off on the party he once served. He slammed Republican leaders for "buying into" "nonsense" that "demonize[s] the president."

“Republicans have to stop buying into things that demonize the president. I mean, why aren’t Republican leaders shouting out about all this birther nonsense and all these other things? They're silent. They should speak out.

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This is the kind of intolerance that I’ve been talking about where these idiot presentations continue to be made and you don’t see the senior leadership of the party say, ‘No, that’s wrong.’ In fact, sometimes by not speaking out, they’re encouraging it. And the base keeps buying the stuff.

And it’s killing the base of the party. I mean, 26 percent favorability rating for the party right now. It ought to be telling them something. So, instead of attacking me or whoever speaks like I do, look in the mirror and realize, ‘How are we going to win the next election?”

Powell endorsed Barack Obama in the past two elections.