More than 100 former Republican national security and foreign policy officials endorsed Kamala Harris for president in a joint letter on Wednesday, saying Donald Trump is “unfit” to serve another term in the White House.
Former officials from the 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 voiced their support for Harris, who is the Democratic nominee in November’s presidential election, as have several former Republican lawmakers.
“We believe that the President of the United States must be a principled, sincere and stable leader,” the letter said.
The statement continued: “While we expect to differ with Kamala Harris on many domestic and foreign policy issues, we believe she possesses the essential qualities to serve as president that Donald Trump lacks, and therefore we will support her election as president.”
The signatories include William Cohen and Chuck Hagel, who served as secretaries of defense under the Clinton and Obama administrations, respectively, as well as William Webster, former director of the CIA and FBI under Reagan and the first Bush administration, and Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and NSA under the Bush and Obama administrations.
“We firmly oppose the election of Donald Trump. As President, he has sowed daily chaos in our government, praised our enemies and undermined our allies, politicized our military and disparaged our veterans, put his own interests above those of America, and betrayed our values, our democracy, and our nation’s founding documents,” the letter added.
The former officials pointed to Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, his “vulnerability to flattery and manipulation” by authoritarian leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and his “disorganized decision-making on national security,” and said he is unfit to serve as president again or “hold any office of public trust.”
The former officials also cited Harris’ support for NATO and Israel, her promise to sign a bipartisan border security package that Republicans had blocked and her pledge to appoint Republicans to her administration.
Former senior officials from the Trump administration who signed the letter include former special assistant to the president Mark Harvey and former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Elizabeth Newman.
In recent weeks, several Republicans have crossed party lines to endorse Harris, including former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock. In an interview with CNN, Comstock explained her decision: “After four years of Donald Trump refusing to acknowledge that he lost (the 2020 election) and continuing to undermine our democracy, I think it’s important for me to reform.”
Other Republicans who endorsed Harris include Alberto Gonzales, who served as Republican attorney general under the Bush administration, former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Trump’s former press secretary Stephanie Grisham and communications director Anthony Scaramucci.