这些曾在共和党执掌白宫期间在白宫、国防部、财政部、国务院、司法部、国土安全部等机构和国会任职的共和党人士集体表示，①These Republican officials have previously served in institutions and congress such as the White House, Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, State Department, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, etc.; ②These officials have stated that although there may be policy differences with Harris, compared to the 'chaos and unethical behavior' displayed by Trump, these concerns seem insignificant.
Caifeng News, September 18 (Editor: Shi Zhengcheng) Generally speaking, Republican presidential candidates in the United States are usually seen as closer to American security institutions - the military, intelligence, and foreign policy officials, but during the 2024 election, Trump has become the exception.
Over 100 former Republican national security officials who had served under Reagan, both Bush presidents, and the Trump administration, publicly expressed their support for Democratic presidential candidate Harris in a joint letter and stated 'Trump is not suitable to serve as President of the United States' on Wednesday local time.
These Republicans who had served in various institutions and congress during Republican administrations collectively stated that while they anticipate differences with Harris on many domestic and foreign policy issues, they believe she possesses the basic qualities required to be President of the United States, which Trump lacks.
These officials stated that during his presidency, Trump promoted 'daily chaos' - praising enemies, weakening allies, politicizing the military, disparaging veterans, and putting personal interests above American interests.
They further stated that they can understand why many Republicans prefer Trump for various reasons rather than Harris, including concerns about some left-wing Democratic positions. However, any potential concerns, when compared to the 'chaos and unethical behavior' displayed by Trump, seem insignificant. Trump's unpredictable nature is not the negotiation advantage he portrays, on the contrary, in national security affairs, Trump's actions will trigger equally unstable behavior from America's adversaries, with the world bearing reckless and dangerous consequences.
Overall, the latest letters also reflect the continuous rise of the 'anti-Trump voice' within the Republican Party. According to a rough look, the signatories of the joint letter include former US Defense Secretary William Conn's, Chuck Hagel, former CIA director Michael Hayden, William Webster, former US Deputy Secretary of State and World Bank President Robert Zoellick, many of whom have previously broken with Trump.
In the letters released on Wednesday, there are also some new names, including several former members of the House of Representatives, such as Dan Miller from Florida, Bill Parkinson from New York, etc.
It is not difficult to understand that due to Trump's eccentric personality, there has always been opposition within the Republican Party. Just last week, ten former senior US military officials issued a joint letter before Trump's debate with Harris, accusing Trump of being a 'national security threat'.
The latest polls show that Trump is still slightly behind Harris, but the gap is not large. Data from 538 shows that even with a slightly better performance in last week's debate, Harris's current support rate has only slightly expanded to nearly 3%. The latest survey from The New York Times also shows that Harris leads Trump by 4 percentage points with a 50% support rate. However, in the 5 'battleground states', the gap between the two is within 1%.
Editor/Somer
