More than one hundred former Republican officials who previously held positions in national security and foreign policy announced their support for Kamala Harris on Wednesday. In the letter, they referred to Donald Trump as “unfit to serve” another term in the White House.
Former leaders from the administrations of Republican Ronald Reagan, Republican George H. W. Bush, Republican George W. Bush, and Republican Donald Trump, as well as Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, have expressed their support for Harris, the Democratic contender for president in the election that will take place in November. A few Republican Party members who had previously served in Congress joined them.
In the letter, it was said that “We believe that the President of the United States must be a leader who is principled, serious, and steady.”
“We anticipate that we will disagree with Kamala Harris on a diverse range of domestic and foreign policy issues; however, we are of the opinion that she possesses the essential qualities necessary to serve as president, whereas Donald Trump does not possess these qualities.” As a result, we are in favour of her election to the presidency.
William Cohen and Chuck Hagel, who had previously served as defence secretaries under the administrations of Clinton and Obama, respectively, were among the individuals who signed the document. There are also others, such as Michael Hayden, who served as director of the CIA and the National Security Agency during the administrations of the younger Bush and Obama, as well as William Webster, who served as a director of the CIA and the FBI during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
According to the former officials, Trump is unfit to serve as president or in “any office of public trust” because of his involvement in the insurrection that took place at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, his “susceptibility to flattery and manipulation” by authoritarian leaders such as Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, and his “chaotic decision-making regarding national security.”
Moreover, the former officials cited Harris’s support for NATO and Israel, as well as her commitment to signing the bipartisan border security deal that Republicans opposed and her promise to select a Republican to her cabinet, as reasons for their endorsement of her running for office.
Mark Harvey, a former special assistant to the president, and Elizabeth Neumann, a former assistant secretary of Homeland Security, are two of the former officials who signed the letter. Other former Trump officials who signed the letter include them also.
A small number of Republicans, like Barbara Comstock, who had previously served as a congressman for Virginia, have crossed party lines in recent weeks to demonstrate their support for Harris. Comstock provided an explanation for her decision by stating, “After January 6, after Donald Trump has refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost [the 2020 election] and his threats against democracy, I think it’s important to turn the page.” Comstock was speaking in an interview with CNN.
Alberto Gonzales, a Republican attorney general who served during the administration of George W. Bush; Adam Kinzinger, a former representative from Illinois; Stephanie Grisham, a former press secretary for Donald Trump; and Anthony Scaramucci, a communications director, are among the other Republicans who have spoken out in support of Harris.