Seventy-four former Republican national security officials say they are voting for Democrat Joe Biden for president because they believe Donald Trump is engaging “in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as president.”
Most of those who signed the letter, released Thursday by the advocacy group Defending Democracy Together, put their names on a similar statement in 2016, which also warned against electing Trump.
Thursday’s statement outlines 10 reasons why the signers believe Trump must not be reelected in November, including allegations that he has “gravely damaged America’s role as a world leader … undermined confidence in our presidential elections ... aligned himself with dictators...” and “attacked and vilified immigrants to our country.”
“While some of us hold policy positions that differ from those of Joe Biden and his party, the time to debate those policy differences will come later. For now, it is imperative that we stop Trump’s assault on our nation’s values and institutions and reinstate the moral foundations of our democracy,” the letter stated.
Signatories to the letter include Republican stalwarts who served under Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush, and Trump himself. They include former deputy and assistant secretaries of state, U.S. trade representatives, members of Congress and senior Pentagon officials.
The White House has not yet responded to the statement. Trump and his supporters will get the chance to defend his record of nearly four years at next week’s virtual Republican National Convention, where he will be nominated for a second term.
The virtual Democratic National Convention, scheduled to conclude Thursday evening with Biden’s formal acceptance of the party’s presidential nomination, has included some Republicans, including former Ohio Governor John Kasich and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, voicing their support for a Biden presidency.