Thursday, September 19, 2024

Over 100 Republican Ex- Senior National Security Officials Back Harris

 

From a letter signed by more than 100 Republican ex- senior national security and foreign policy officials/ Members of Congress supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, released yesterday:

We are former national security and foreign policy officials who served in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and/or Donald Trump, or as Republican Members of Congress. We have served in the White House, the Departments of Defense, Treasury, State, Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, and other agencies and in Congress.

We believe that the President of the United States must be a principled, serious, and steady leader who can advance and defend American security and values, strengthen our alliances, and protect our democracy. 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.

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. In our view, by inciting the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and defending those who committed it, he has violated his oath of office and brought  danger to our country. As former Vice President Pence has said "anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States."

Donald Trump’s susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making are dangerous qualities – as many honorable Republican colleagues and military officers who served in senior national security positions in his administration have frequently testified. He is unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust.

Vice President Harris has demonstrated a commitment to upholding the ideals that define our nation — freedom, democracy, and rule of law. Her experience as Attorney General of California and her leadership on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and as Vice President have helped prepare her to be President...

This comes several weeks after more than 200 Republican former staffers endorsed Vice President Harris.  Retired Malignant Loser senior military officials like James Mattis, John Kelly, and Mark Milley have also made clear their views that the Malignant Loser is unfit for office, though they've shied away from endorsing the Vice President (shame on them!).

Letters of support aren't votes but, as we've often pointed out in cases like this, they provide a "permission structure" for Republican and independent voters to cast their ballot for a Democrat who "possesses the essential qualities to serve as President," that the Malignant Loser manifestly does not.  In doing so, as former Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said at the DNC, voting for Harris-Walz "doesn't make you a Democrat, it makes you a patriot."


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