Interview: Former Clinton Administration Official on Why He Became a Republican

“Rising tides lift all boats, whether they’re white, black, brown, yellow, immigrant, or any other American.”

On January 9th, 2018, Merion West’s Henri Mattila interviewed Oliver McGee on his decision to change his political affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

Mr. McGee, currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas Tech University, is a former United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Technology Policy during the administration of President Bill Clinton.

Thank you for joining us today, Mr. McGee. To begin with, you changed your political party in 2008, from Democrat to Republican. Why was this?

It was 2007, and I was watching the beginnings of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. I thought to myself: “Wow, this was very different than what he said when he was a Senator.” And second of all, I said: “Who are you? Where did you come from? I haven’t seen this version of you.” I actually have a tweet on the top of my Twitter page where Barack Obama is talking about immigration. It was very moderate, a 40 second video, that shows him speaking on C-SPAN about immigration. And he sounded just like Trump today. Exactly.