More than 230 Republicans who previously worked for either former Presidents George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah have signed a letter endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
USA TODAY exclusively obtained a copy of the open letter. Here is a link to a copy of the letter with its signatories.
USA TODAY wrote:
The letter from alums of the three Republican presidential nominees prior to former President Donald Trump comes on the heels of a Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago that showcased Republican detractors of the GOP nominee. At least five former aides to former President George H.W. Bush also signed the letter, which has 238 signatures in all.
A similar group of about 150 anti-Trump former staffers of Bush, McCain and Romney pledged support for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
This comes on the heels of an announcement on Friday — a day after the close of the Democratic National Convention — in which a dozen Republican lawyers who served in the administrations of then-Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush endorsed Harris in her race against the GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump. The lawyers, who released their letter to Fox News Digital, wrote that Trump would threaten American democracy and “remains unfit, dangerous and detached from reality.”
This new letter reads:
We reunite today, joined by new George H.W. Bush alumni, to reinforce our 2020 statements and, for the first time, jointly declare that we’re voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz this November.
Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz. That’s to be expected. The alternative, however, is simply untenable. 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.
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 letter notes that exit polling and voter data show that “moderate Republicans and conservative independents in Key swing states ultimately delivered the presidency to Joe Biden” because they “put country far before party.”
They concluded by writing:
We’re heartfully calling on these friends, colleagues, neighbors, and family members to take a brave stand once more, to vote for leaders that will strive for consensus, not chaos; that will work to unite, not divide; that will make our country and our children proud. Those leaders are Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz.
USA TODAY provided the names of some of the signatories to the letter.
They include: former McCain chiefs of staff Mark Salter and Chris Koch; Joe Donoghue, former legislative director for McCain; Jennifer Lux, press secretary for McCain's 2008 campaign, and Jean Becker, longtime chief of staff for George H.W. Bush.
Also backing Harris are David Nierenberg, Romney's 2012 campaign finance chair; David Garman, under secretary of Energy for George W. Bush; and Olivia Troye, a former advisor to both George W. Bush and Vice President Mike Pence. Troye spoke from the stage of the DNC convention last week.