A group of more than 70 Republican former national security advisers came out in support of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, ABC News reported, saying that President Donald Trump “lacks the character and competence” to lead the nation.
In an open letter posted on the Defending Democracy Together website, the men and women who have served in administrations both Republican and Democrat, in capacities ranging from special assistant to the president to deputy secretary of state, all said the same thing — that the 45th president “has failed our country and that Vice President Joe Biden should be elected the next President of the United States.”
“We are profoundly concerned about the course of our nation under the leadership of Donald Trump.”
The signers of the document laid out 10 reasons why they believe voters should reject Trump in favor of the Democratic presidential candidate, who officially accepted his party’s nomination on the same day the letter was released.
They claim Trump has “gravely damaged” the United States’ role as a world leader, that he’s demonstrated he’s not capable of leading the country through a crisis — specifically citing the coronavirus pandemic, and that he used foreign influence to get elected in 2016 and has cited “exaggerated” claims about voter fraud to undermine confidence in this year’s election.
Further, the signers accused Trump of aligning himself with dictators such as China’s Xi Jinping, that he’s undermined the rule of law, and that he’s dishonored the office of the president.
Joe Biden, by comparison, gets a ringing endorsement from the group.
“We believe Joe Biden has the character, experience, and temperament to lead this nation,” they said, adding they believe Obama’s vice president will restore dignity to the executive office and unite Americans.
One of the signatories to the letter is Elizabeth Neumann, former assistant secretary of Homeland Security. She told ABC News that Trump’s leadership style is “chaos,” which she said might have worked for him in business, but isn’t what’s required of the man who holds the highest office in the land.
Other Republicans, including some who have served under Trump either directly or indirectly, have also publicly come out in opposition to the president. For example, the former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff under former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Miles Taylor, said in a video posted and produced by the group Republican Voters Against Trump that even though he’s not a Democrat, he’s supporting Joe Biden.
