More than 200 former Republican presidential staffers sign open letter endorsing Harris over Trump

More than 200 staffers for four previous Republican presidential nominees have endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris' White House bid, cautioning that the notion of a second term for GOP nominee Donald Trump is "simply untenable” and “will hurt real, everyday people.”

In an open letter, first written about on Monday by USA Today, 238 people who worked for former President George H.W. Bush, former President George W. Bush, former Arizona Sen. John McCain and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney call on their fellow “moderate Republicans and conservative independents” to join them in backing Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

“Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz,” the Republicans wrote, noting the significance of a handful of battleground states that proved crucial to Democrat Joe Biden's slim margin of victory in 2020. “That’s to be expected. The alternative, however, is simply untenable.”

Signatories include Reed Galen, a George W. Bush and McCain campaign alum who co-founded the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, and Olivia Troye, a former George W. Bush staffer and homeland security adviser to Trump's vice president, Mike Pence. The range of jobs represented runs the gamut from chief of staff 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, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.” The letter goes on to warn that “broad, 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.”

In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called the letter “hilarious because nobody knows who these people are.”

“They would rather see the country burn down than to see President Trump successfully return to the White House to Make America Great Again,” Cheung added.

Many of the same signatories also issued a letter in 2020 supporting Biden's candidacy over Trump.

Attracting backing from the other side of the political aisle has become a tactic for both Trump and Harris as Election Day draws near. Several Republicans, including Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham, spoke in favor of Harris at last week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

In recent days, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently suspended his independent presidential bid, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, both of whom had been considered fringe members of the Democratic Party before they left, have endorsed Trump. On Tuesday, Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes said Kennedy and Gabbard had been added to the Trump-Vance transition team.

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Meg Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP