111 former Republican national security and foreign policy officials said that despite their disagreements with the vice president’s policies, “we believe that she possesses the essential qualities to serve as President and Donald Trump does not.”
They decried Trump for sowing “daily chaos in government” during his first term in office, arguing that he put his personal interests before the country’s and “violated his oath of office” by inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The group, which includes former Trump administration officials as well as officials who served under former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, also warned of Trump’s “susceptibility to flattery” by foreign leaders.
“He is unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust,” they said in the letter, which The New York Times first reported earlier Wednesday.
The signatories include former CIA and FBI director William Webster, former director of national intelligence John Negroponte, and former U.S. trade representatives Carla Hills and Robert Zoellick.
They acknowledged many Republicans’ concerns about Harris and preference for Trump. “But any potential concerns pale in comparison to Donald Trump’s demonstrated chaotic and unethical behavior and disregard for our Republic’s time-tested principles of constitutional governance,” they argued.
“His unpredictable nature is not the negotiating virtue he extols. To the contrary, in matters of national security, his demeanor invites equally erratic behavior from our adversaries, which irresponsibly threatens reckless and dangerous global consequences.”
Eight former members of Congress also endorsed the Democratic ticket of Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the letter.
www.theguardian.com
