More than 100 former Republican officials who served in roles related to national security or foreign policy endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, arguing her Republican rival, former president Donald Trump is “unfit to serve.”
The group includes members of Congress and senior officials who served in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as the Trump administration.
“We firmly oppose the election of Donald Trump. As President, he promoted daily chaos in government, praised our enemies and undermined our allies, politicized the military and disparaged our veterans, prioritized his personal interest above American interests, and betrayed our values, democracy, and this country’s founding documents,” the officials wrote in a letter sharing their support for the vice president.
In the letter, the group specifically cites Trump’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as a reason they are not supporting him, charging that he violated his oath of office and invoking the argument that no one who puts themself over the Constitution should be president. (Trump faces federal charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the attack; he pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.)
The officials also point to Trump’s “susceptibility to flattery and manipulation” by other world leaders such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping as “dangerous qualities.”
While noting that they “expect to disagree” with Harris on policy issues, the group argues that she has demonstrated a commitment to “freedom, democracy, and rule of law,” citing her experience serving as attorney general of California, on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and as vice president.
Read the rest at NY1. Read the letter below.
