Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman, a major GOP donor, issues remarkable statement endorsing Hillary Clinton

Thomson Reuters

Meg Whitman, the president and chief executive of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, has endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential bid in a stunning statement rejecting the candidacy of Donald Trump.

"It is clear to me that Secretary Clinton’s temperament, global experience and commitment to America’s bedrock national values make her the far better choice," Whitman said in the statement published on Facebook.

"To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division. Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character."

"I urge all Republicans to reject Donald Trump this November," Whitman concluded.

Whitman, a Republican, told The New York Times it was time "to put country first before party" and that she would give a "substantial" contribution to Clinton's campaign to defeat Trump, the Republican nominee whom she called a "a dishonest demagogue."

Whitman was a major fundraiser for Republican Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, and was a chairwoman on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's finance team during his presidential bid this election, according to the Times.

Clinton reached out to Whitman personally about a month ago, according to the Times report.

Read Whitman's full statement below:

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