Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States and Democratic presidential candidate, boards Air Force Two at John Murtha Johnstown Cambria Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on September 13, 2024.
Drew Ungerer | AFP | Getty Images
More than 700 former national security and military officials have endorsed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential election. Open Letter The National Security Leaders Association announced the news on Sunday.
“This election is a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsivity,” said the group, made up of senior bipartisan leaders who have served in the military and other public offices and agencies.
“We are trained to make calm, rational decisions, which is why we know VP Harris will be an excellent commander in chief; Trump, meanwhile, has proven unfit for the office,” they added.
The statement, which criticised Trump as “impulsive and ignorant”, was signed by 741 people, including Democrats who have been vocal supporters of Harris, such as Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, as well as Republican secretaries of Defense Chuck Hagel and William Cohen, who both served under Democratic presidents.
Signatories include 15 retired four-star generals, 12 former Cabinet-level officials, eight service chiefs, more than 120 ambassadors, and three senior officials from the Trump administration: retired Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli, retired four-star Gen. Paul Selva, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Maj. Gen. Erik Thorne-Olson.
“Mr. Trump is the first president in American history to actively undermine the peaceful transfer of power that is a foundation of American democracy,” the letter said. “He has shown no remorse for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election on January 6, has promised to pardon the convicted perpetrators, and has made clear that he will not honor the results of the 2024 election if he loses again.”
The letter also accused Trump of publicly and privately criticizing the leaders of America’s allies, including the UK, Israel, Australia, Canada and Germany, and criticized their decision to abandon allied Kurdish fighters in Syria in the face of an expected Turkish offensive in 2019.
“These are the same people who have profited from embroiling our country in endless foreign wars while the American people suffer,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Chang told CNBC in response to the critical letter. “President Trump is the only modern president who will not embroil our country in new wars.”
Sunday’s endorsement came after 111 former Republican national security and foreign policy officials endorsed Harris in a letter on Wednesday, saying Trump is “unfit to hold office again.”
The Harris campaign has sought to appeal to conservative and moderate voters who are unsure about voting for Trump since launching “Republicans for Harris” in August. Since then, Harris has garnered endorsements from a range of prominent Republicans, including Dick Cheney, who served as vice president under George W. Bush.
“Trump threatens our democratic institutions, and he says so himself,” the Sunday letter of support said. “He has called for ‘repeal’ parts of the Constitution. He says he wants to be a ‘dictator,’ but his explanation that he will only be a dictator for a day is not reassuring.”
