More than 200 staffers for the past four Republican presidential candidates have endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris’ White House bid, warning that the idea of a second term for GOP nominee Donald Trump is “simply unsustainable” and “hurts real, everyday people.”
In an open letter first reported by USA Today on Monday, 238 people who worked for former President George HW Bush, former President George W. Bush, former Arizona Sen. John McCain and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney call their colleagues “moderates.” Republicans and conservative independents” to join them in endorsing Harris and his running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.
“Of course, we have many honest ideological differences with Vice President Harris and Governor Walz,” the Republican wrote, noting the importance of a handful of battleground states that proved crucial to Democrat Joe Biden’s narrow margin of victory in 2020. “That’s to be expected. But the alternative is simply unsustainable.”
Signatories include Reed Galen, a George W. Bush and McCain campaign alumnus who founded the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, and Olivia Troye, a former George W. Bush staffer and homeland security adviser to Trump Vice President Mike Pence. The range of jobs represented ranges from personnel manager to intern.
“Another four years of Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership,” the signatories warn, “this time focused on advancing the dangerous goals of Project 2025, hurting real, everyday people and undermining our sacred institutions.” The letter warns that “broad, democratic movements are irrevocably at risk as Trump and his acolyte JD Vance bully dictators like Vladimir Putin while turning their backs on our allies.”
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the letter “funny because nobody knows who these people are.”
“They would rather see the country burn than see President Trump successfully return to the White House to make America great again,” Cheung added.
Many of the same signatories also sent a letter in 2020 supporting Biden’s candidacy over Trump.
Attracting support from across the political aisle has become a tactic for both Trump and Harris as Election Day nears. Several Republicans, including Mesa, Arizona Mayor John Giles, former President Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham, spoke on behalf of Harris at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week.
In recent days, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently suspended his independent bid for the presidency, and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, both considered fringe members of the Democratic Party before their departures, have endorsed Trump. On Tuesday, Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes said Kennedy and Gabbard have been added to the Trump-Vance transition team.
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Meg Kinnard reports from Chapin, South Carolina and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
