More than 200 Republicans who worked for Bush, McCain and Romney endorse Harris

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Louise Thomas

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Hundreds of former staffers who worked for President George H. W. Bush, President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and Senator Mitt Romney have published an open letter asking fellow Republicans to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in November.

The group of more than 200 people warns that another four “chaotic” years of Donald Trump “will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions”.

They raised concerns about Project 2025, the 900-page plan authored by former Trump aides and endorsed by The Hertiage Foundation, as well as the former president’s potential to grovel to dictators like Vladimir Putin.

“Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz. That’s to be expected. The alternative, however, is simply untenable,” the Republicans write.

They’re asking moderate Republicans and conservative independents in key swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, to vote “for leaders that will strive for consensus, not chaos; that will work to unite, not divide; that will make our country and our children proud.”

“Those leaders are Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz,” the letter, obtained by USA Today, says.

The letter marks the official endorsement by the group of Republicans. They penned a similar letter supporting President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

The former chiefs of staff for Bush I and McCain, advisers to McCain and Romeny on their presidential campaigns and hundreds of other officials signed the letter.

It was also signed by Olivia Troye, a former Mike Pence staffer and Pentagon official under the Bush II administration, who spoke against Trump at the Democratic National Convention.

Troye, and several other former Trump administration staffers like Stephanie Grisham, have similarly endorsed Harris and warned of a second Trump presidency. At the DNC, Grisham and Troye shared stories from their time in the White House, underlining Trump’s unconventional leadership that caused chaos.

In response to the letter, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said in a statement to NBC News that the letter was “hilarious” and claimed “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 said.