Democratic presidential nominee former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del. Andrew Harnik/AP
Former National Security Officials from Republican Administrations Endorse Biden
The 73 former officials and lawmakers say Trump is a danger to the nation through his words and actions.
Seventy-three former national security officials who served under Republican administrations and/or as Republican lawmakers came out against President Trump on Thursday, arguing he is an unfit leader.
Ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, a coalition of former officials––who served in the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump administrations––outlined why they believe Trump has failed as president and why they are endorsing Biden, despite some policy differences. This comes as two high-profile Republicans, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, spoke at the convention articulating similar concerns about the president.
“Trump has compromised the independence of the Department of Justice, repeatedly attacked federal judges and punished government officials who have sought to uphold the law,” the former security officials wrote. “To protect himself from accountability, he has fired officials who launched investigations or testified against him, threatened whistleblowers, dangled pardons as incentives to stay silent and blocked prison time for a political crony convicted of lying on his behalf.”
Other concerns they raised included Trump’s undermining of public health officials during the novel coronavirus pandemic; mismanagement of his national security team; use of the military in domestic affairs; and distasteful language and incitement of political, racial and ethnic divisions in the country.
“In contrast, we believe Joe Biden has the character, experience and temperament to lead this nation,” the Republican former officials said. They acknowledged that some of them have different policy preferences than Biden, but “the time to debate those policy differences will come later” because “it is imperative that we stop Trump’s assault on our nation’s values and institutions.”
The statement was released through an initiative of Defending Democracy Together, an anti-Trump conservative advocacy organization. The co-signers include former secretaries and other high-ranking officials for the State, Homeland Security, Commerce, Defense and Treasury departments and U.S. Agency for International Development, and directors of the National Security Council, CIA, FBI, National Security Agency and National Counterterrorism Center.
Politico reported on Friday that while Biden is looking to form a “center-left” administration with influence from progressives if elected as president, he also hasn’t ruled out having a Republican in his Cabinet.