Republicans who have endorsed Kamala Harris and spoken out against Trump
Washington — Vice President Kamala Harris has seen a growing number of Republicans endorse her in the 2024 election in the days leading up to and following the presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, as the two candidates are locked in a tight race.
Harris and Trump went head-to-head in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, and both candidates had surrogates in the spin room following the matchup, hosted by ABC News. Among those advocating for Harris were two people who worked in the White House for Trump.
Anthony Scaramucci, who had a brief stint as Trump's White House communications director, and Olivia Troye, who was Homeland Security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, went to Philadelphia to speak out against the former president.
Scaramucci and Troye are not the only Republicans who have announced their support for Harris, and the Democratic presidential nominee's campaign rolled out "Republicans for Harris" to bolster outreach to GOP voters who oppose Trump.
Several Republicans endorsed Harris at the Democratic National Convention in August, while a group of more than 200 who worked for former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as Sen. Mitt Romney and the late Sen. John McCain signed onto a letter supporting the Democratic nominee.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney
Cheney has been one of the most vocal Republican critics of Trump, and she announced her intent to vote for Harris during an event at Duke University on Sept. 4. She represented Wyoming in the House for six years, which included two years in GOP leadership as conference chair before being ousted from the leadership position by pro-Trump Republicans and then defeated by Trump-backed challenger in a primary.
"I don't believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates' names, particularly in swing states," Cheney said. "As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. And because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris."
Former Vice President Dick Cheney
The former vice president joined his daughter, Liz Cheney, in announcing his plan to vote for Harris in November. Cheney has a long career in Republican politics, having served four presidents. In addition to being vice president to President George W. Bush, Cheney was secretary of Defense under President George H.W. Bush and White House chief of staff under President Gerald Ford. He represented Wyoming in the House for 10 years.
"In our nation's 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," he said in a statement on Sept. 6. "He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again. As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris."
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger
Like Liz Cheney, Kinzinger has also been one of the most ardent critics of Trump. The former Illinois congressman appeared at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22 to urge Republicans to back Harris in November.
"Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party," he said. "His fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness."
Kinzinger delivered a message to GOP voters to "vote for our bedrock values and vote for Kamala Harris."
Stephanie Grisham
Grisham was a White House press secretary under Trump and chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump before resigning on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of the former president's supporters violently breached the U.S. Capitol. She addressed the Democratic National Convention on its second night and lambasted Trump as having "no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth."
"I love my country more than my party," Grisham said. "Kamala Harris tells the truth. She respects the American people and she has my vote."
Olivia Troye
Troye, who was an adviser to Pence, also addressed the Democratic National Convention to speak out against Trump and voice her support for Harris.
She said the Republican nominee's goal is "to sow doubt and division," and characterized a vote for Harris as a vote for democracy.
"You're not betraying our party," she said of the GOP. "You're standing up for our country."
Anthony Scaramucci
Scaramucci was White House communications director before he was ousted from the role in July 2017 after serving just 11 days. He has since criticized Trump and the GOP, calling it a "Trumpist party" in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"Kamala Harris is capable and has a great team," he said in a July social media post.
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan
Duncan was Georgia's lieutenant governor and split with Trump over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He, too, delivered remarks at the Democratic National Convention to urge his fellow Republicans to support Harris in the presidential election.
"To my fellow Republicans at home that want to pivot back toward policy, empathy and tone: You know the right thing to do. Now let's have the courage to do it in November," Duncan said, calling Harris a "steady hand."
Alberto Gonzales
Alberto Gonzales, who served as attorney general in George W. Bush's administration, backed Harris in an op-ed in Politico on Sept. 12.
"As the United States approaches a critical election, I can't sit quietly as Donald Trump — perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation — eyes a return to the White House," Gonzales wrote. "For that reason, though I'm a Republican, I've decided to support Kamala Harris for president."
Gonzales added that the "person we elect in November is particularly important" since the "current members of the House of Representatives and the Senate have proven spectacularly incapable or unwilling to check abuses of executive power." Gonzales resigned in 2007 after being accused of lying while under oath and amid a scandal over firing nine U.S. attorneys.
Citing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Gonzales said that "power is intoxicating and based on Trump's rhetoric and conduct it appears unlikely that he would respect the power of the presidency in all instances; rather, he would abuse it for personal and political gain, and not on behalf of the American people."
Staff of President Ronald Reagan
Seventeen former staff members of the late Republican President Ronald Reagan endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, saying in a joint statement first obtained by CBS News that Reagan, if alive, would have supported Harris.
"President Ronald Reagan famously spoke about a 'Time for Choosing.' While he is not here to experience the current moment, we who worked for him in the White House, in the administration, in campaigns and on his personal staff, know he would join us in supporting the Harris-Walz ticket," the group wrote. "The time for choosing we face today is a choice between integrity and demagoguery, and the choice must be Harris-Walz."
The group explained that their votes in this election "are less about supporting the Democratic Party and more about our resounding support for democracy," while encouraging other Republicans to do the same. Among the group are Ken Adelman, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and U.S. arms control director under Reagan, as well as B. Jay Cooper, the special assistant and deputy press secretary to Reagan, and Pete Souza, the chief White House photographer for both Reagan and Obama.
William Webster
Webster was CIA and FBI director under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He signed onto a letter with more than 100 GOP former national security and foreign policy officials who worked in presidential administrations and Congress that announced their support for Harris.
"We expect to disagree with Kamala Harris on many domestic and foreign policy issues, but we believe that she possesses the essential qualities to serve as President and Donald Trump does not. We therefore support her election to be president," the letter states.
John Negroponte
Negroponte was the director of National Intelligence for President George W. Bush. He also signed his name to the letter endorsing Harris from the Republican national security and foreign policy officials.
The letter notes that while the officials respect that many Republicans will back Trump over Harris, their concerns about the vice president "pale in comparison to Donald Trump's demonstrated chaotic and unethical behavior and disregard for our Republic's time-tested principles of constitutional governance."
"His unpredictable nature is not the negotiating virtue he extols," the Republicans said. "To the contrary, in matters of national security, his demeanor invites equally erratic behavior from our adversaries, which irresponsibly threatens reckless and dangerous global consequences."
Former Sen. Jeff Flake
Jeff Flake, a Republican who represented Arizona in the House and Senate, endorsed Harris on Sept. 29, citing the rule of law, and an optimistic outlook for the nation, among other reasons.
"I want to support a presidential candidate who seeks to unite our country rather than one who divides us," Flake said in a post on X pledging to support Harris for president.
The Arizona Republican cited his time in the Senate with Harris, and in the House with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
"I know them," Flake said. "I know first hand of their fine character and love of country."
Flake recently stepped down as the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, a role for which President Biden nominated him in 2021. Flake also crossed party lines to endorse Mr. Biden in 2020.
Cassidy Hutchinson
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House staffer who testified against Trump during a blockbuster hearing before the House Jan. 6 Committee in 2022, said she plans to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket this cycle.
"I've know for quite a long time, number one, that I would never in my life vote for Donald Trump ever again," Hutchinson said on MSNBC on Oct. 2. "I have also known for a long time, whether the nominee was at one point going to be Joe Biden, now Kamala Harris, that I was going to cast my vote for either candidate, now Kamala Harris and Tim Walz."
Hutchinson noted that she doesn't want to tell anyone how to vote, but she said she's "proud" to vote for Harris over Trump. She cited her up-close experience as an aide to Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, along with comments that Trump has made and his choice of Vance as a running mate.
Hutchinson said although she and the Democratic ticket don't agree on many policies issues, the candidates' character "really matters." She cited Harris and Walz's working class backgrounds, saying "those are the people that Donald Trump claimed to represent, but actually exploited and manipulated their support."
"So I say to Republicans who may be on the fence: I understand how frightening it can be to potentially break with your party," Hutchinson said. "But Donald Trump and JD Vance cannot be trusted with the Constitution, they cannot be trusted to uphold our rule of law, and they can't be trusted to enact responsible policy."
Hutchinson said she also plans to vote for Democrats in the House and Senate in order to "get passed this period of Donald Trump" so the nation can "begin healing."
Former Rep. Fred Upton
Former Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican who voted to impeach Trump and retired from Congress in 2022, told The Detroit News that he's backing Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Upton, who represented Michigan for more than three decades in the House and worked alongside Walz, said Trump is "totally unhinged."
"We don't need this chaos," he told The Detroit News. "We need to move forward, and that's why I'm where I am."
Upton also told The New York Times that he cast his ballot for Harris, noting that it marked the first time he has supported a Democrat for president.
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has been consistently critical of Trump, endorsed Harris on Oct. 30, writing in a social media post that although he usually stays away from endorsements, he can't "tune out."
Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria and immigrated to the U.S. in 1968 before becoming a citizen in 1983, said he will "always be an American before I am a Republican," adding that Trump's comments about the nation being a garbage can for the world are "so unpatriotic, it makes me furious."
"That's why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz," he said.
The actor-turned-governor, who was in office from 2003 to 2011, said the U.S. needs to "close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won't do that."
"He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger," Schwarzenegger said. "I want to move forward as a country, and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz."
