Exclusive: Over 50 Republican former U.S. national security officials
join Biden endorsement
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[October 01, 2020]
By Tim Reid
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than 50
Republican former national security officials will endorse Democratic
presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday, joining one of several
Republican organizations opposing the re-election of President Donald
Trump.
The group, called Former Republican National Security Officials for
Biden, launched in August with 70 members. The new endorsements will
bring it to nearly 130 individuals who have publicly broken with the
Republican president, including seven who served under Trump, people
familiar with the effort said.
Others worked as senior defense and security officials in the
administrations of Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush
and George W. Bush.
The 56 new people endorsing Biden include Greg Brower, a former FBI
assistant director; Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff; and
Alden Munson, former deputy director of National Intelligence.
The group will start running full-page newspaper ads on Thursday in
seven competitive states that will help decide the Nov. 3 election:
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina and
Texas, a person involved in the effort said.
The ad accuses Trump of being unfit to serve as president and of having
failed America with his response to the novel coronavirus pandemic,
which has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States and
triggered a severe economic downturn.
The group also will run a TV ad during Fox & Friends, which Trump is
known to watch. The ad features Michael Leiter, former director of the
National Counterterrorism Center, accusing Trump of making the United
States less safe because of his disregard for facts, his criticism of
America's intelligence officials and his demeaning of U.S. allies.
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U.S. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe
Biden speaks at a campaign stop in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.,
September 30, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Elizabeth Neumann, Trump's former assistant secretary for threat
prevention in the Department of Homeland Security who joined the
national security group backing Biden in August, said Trump's
failure to unequivocally denounce white supremacists during
Tuesday's presidential debate reinforced members' belief that he
must be defeated in November.
"He has an inability to clearly condemn white supremacists," Neumann
said. "He either likes the ambiguity or he's intentionally endorsing
these people. He's unfit, and I think he's extremely dangerous."
The Trump campaign has described Republican-led groups campaigning
for Biden as disaffected former officials “trying to take down the
duly elected president of the United States.” Trump on Twitter last
year referred to “Never Trump Republicans” are “human scum.”
The organizations of Republicans backing Biden include Republican
Voters Against Trump and 43 Alumni for Biden, which consists of
hundreds of officials who worked for George W. Bush.
Collectively, the groups object to Trump's alienation of U.S. allies
and his leadership at home, including his handling of the
coronavirus and his reaction to nationwide protests over racial
injustice and police brutality against Black Americans.
(Reporting by Tim Reid; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia
Osterman)
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