As the United States presidential election 2024 is nearing, the Republican and Democratic candidates are making an all-out effort to win the swing states. As the campaigns are getting intense, over 100 Republican former national security and foreign policy officials have come to the forefront calling Donald Trump ‘unfit to serve’.
The ex-Republican officials’ endorsement of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris at this crucial juncture surely boosts the Democrats’ campaign.
Former officials from the presidential administrations of Republicans Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, as well as Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, have extended their support for Harris.
In a joint letter, the ex-Republican officials pointed out that they believe the president of the United States should be someone “principled, serious and steady leader”.
Former defence secretaries, who served in the Bill Clinton and Obama administrations—William Cohen, Chuck Hagel—former CIA and FBI director under Ronald Reagan, William Webster and former CIA and NSA director Micheal Hayden were among those who signed the letter.
"We expect to disagree with Kamala Harris on many domestic and foreign policy issues, but we believe that she possesses the essential qualities to serve as president and Donald Trump does not. We therefore support her election to be president,” the letter read.
“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, prioritised his personal interest above American interests, and betrayed our values, democracy, and this country’s founding document,” the letter added.
Trump's involvement in the 2021 January 6 US Capitol attacks was also pointed out in the letter.
They also alleged that Trump’s susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by authoritarian leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping makes him unfit to serve again.
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Citing reasons for their endorsement, the officials pointed out Harris' support for NATO and Israel, as well as her commitment to signing the bipartisan border security package that Republicans blocked, and her pledge to appoint a Republican to her administration.
Former special assistant to the president Mark Harvey, and former assistant secretary of Homeland Security Elizabeth Neumann were also among the signatories of the letter.
In recent weeks, many Republicans—especially Trump haters—had endorsed Harris. In an interview with CNN, Virginia representative Barbara Comstock said that it's important to turn the page due to his threats to democracy.
Former president George W. Bush’s attorney Alberto Gonzales, former Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger, former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham and communications director Anthony Scaramucci have also endorsed Harris.
“Trump failed to do his duty and exercise his presidential power to protect members of Congress, law enforcement and the Capitol from the attacks that day. He failed to deploy executive branch personnel to save lives and property and preserve democracy,” Gonzales said.
