Hundreds more Republicans say they'll be voting for Harris in November.Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA
The trend continues: Republicans are defecting from former President Donald Trump in droves.
More than 200 Republican officials who once worked for former President George W. Bush, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency and warned of the dangers of a second Trump term in an open letter released Monday.
The letter, first reported by USA Today, outlines both the foreign and domestic dangers of a second Trump term: “At home, another four years of Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership, this time focused on advancing the dangerous goals of Project 2025, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions,” the group wrote. “Abroad, democratic movements will be irreparably jeopardized as Trump and his acolyte JD Vance kowtow to dictators like Vladimir Putin while turning their backs on our allies. We can’t let that happen.”
The signatories range from former volunteers, interns, and assistants to onetime high-level officials in the White House and Senate, including Jean Becker, former chief of staff for 24 years to George H.W. Bush; Joe Donoghue, Senate stalwart and McCain’s former legislative director; and David Nierenberg, national finance chair for Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. “Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz. That’s to be expected,” they wrote. “The alternative, however, is simply untenable.”
Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesperson, said in a statement provided to Mother Jones: “It’s hilarious because nobody knows who these people are. They would rather see the country burn down than to see President Trump successfully return to the White House to Make America Great Again.”
Romney already said earlier this year he would “absolutely not” vote for Trump, but he does not appear to have publicly said who he will vote for. The New York Times reported in 2020 that Bush would not be voting for Trump, citing “people familiar with [his] thinking”; Bush does not appear to have addressed the topic thus far for the upcoming election. Spokespeople for Bush and Romney did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Mother Jones. McCain withdrew his support for Trump in the 2016 election after the Access Hollywood tape leaked in which Trump bragged about committing sexual assault.
The dissent within Republican ranks comes just days after several prominent Republicans—including some ex-Trump officials—sang Harris’ praises at the Democratic National Convention and urged conservatives to vote for her over Trump. On Friday, a dozen former White House lawyers who served under three Republican presidents—both Bushes and Ronald Reagan—also endorsed Harris over Trump, alleging that he would “threaten American democracy and undermine the rule of law in our country,” Fox News first reported. And as I reported earlier this month, the Harris campaign launched a group aimed at wooing Trump-skeptical voters to their ticket. A Harris-Walz campaign official pointed to these examples as proof of how the campaign has conducted outreach to moderate and independent voters.
Trump, meanwhile, seems to have trouble garnering support from his former staff, let alone from people across the aisle. According to a report published in the Washington Post earlier this month, only about half of Trump’s former cabinet has openly endorsed his reelection bid.
