Over 100 former national security officials and Republican members of Congress have rallied behind Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris as they declared that Donald J. Trump is “unfit to serve again as president,” highlighting deep concerns over the former president’s leadership.
In their letter, the group, which includes both long-time Trump critics and Republicans who did not endorse President Joe Biden in the previous election, openly acknowledged their ideological differences with Ms. Harris. “We may disagree with Kamala Harris on many issues,” they conceded, but what worries them more are the “dangerous qualities” exhibited by Mr. Trump. The former president, they wrote, has demonstrated an “unusual affinity” for authoritarian figures such as Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, alongside his “contempt for the norms of decent, ethical, and lawful behavior.”
The letter meticulously outlines Trump’s tenure, drawing attention to what they described as his penchant for chaos, both domestically and internationally. As president, they claimed, he “promoted daily chaos in government, praised our enemies and undermined our allies, politicized the military and disparaged our veterans.” The critique also points to Trump’s prioritization of personal interests over national ones, accusing him of betraying the values on which the United States was founded.
One of the most potent charges in the letter involves the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The group didn’t mince words in condemning Trump’s role in inciting the violence, stating that “he has violated his oath of office and brought danger to our country.” They also referenced Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, who famously said that “anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”
The letter follows high-profile endorsements of Harris from Bush jr’s Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz Cheney, both of whom have become vocal opponents of Trump’s return to power. Last month, during their nominating convention, Democrats prominently featured several Republicans, including former Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, another vocal critic of Trump.
Among the 111 signatories are prominent figures who have served under Republican icons such as Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Familiar names include former defense secretaries Chuck Hagel and William S. Cohen, former CIA directors Michael V. Hayden and William H. Webster, and John D. Negroponte, the former director of national intelligence. Several former House members, such as Charles W. Boustany Jr. of Louisiana and Barbara Comstock of Virginia, also joined their voices to the cause this time.
“Any potential concerns about Ms. Harris,” they assert, “pale in comparison to those over Mr. Trump.”
