Seventeen former staffers of former Republican President Ronald Reagan have endorsed Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a joint statement first obtained by CBS News, the staffers wrote that if Reagan were alive, they would have supported Harris.
“President Ronald Reagan famously spoke of a ‘time of choosing. ’ While he is not here to experience this moment, those of us who worked for him in the White House, in the administration, on the campaign trail, and on his personal staff know that he will join us in endorsing Harris-Walz,” the group wrote. “The time of choosing we face today is one between honesty and demagoguery, and that choice must be Harris-Walz,” the group added. “Our vote in this election is about our strong support for democracy more than supporting a Democrat.”
More than 230 former officials of Republican Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have also endorsed Harris, as have campaign staffers for Republican presidential candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney. Biden received similar levels of Republican support in the 2020 election against Trump.
Former Reagan staffers who support Harris include Ken Adelman, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and director of the U.S. Arms Control Agency under Reagan, and B. Jay Cooper, a special assistant and deputy press secretary under Reagan. Adelman supported former President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and Biden’s 2020 campaign. He supported Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 but opposed Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The list also includes Pete Sousa, who served as chief White House photographer during the Reagan and Obama administrations.
The group is trying to persuade other former Reagan staffers to support Harris-Walz, calling it “the only way to ensure that our children and grandchildren will have a strong, viable America for years to come.”
CBS News reached out to the Trump campaign for comment. Trump has only received support from a handful of Democratic insiders who have since distanced themselves from the party, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ran as an independent. End bidding There’s also former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who endorsed Trump last month and is leaving the Democratic Party in 2022.
In April 2021, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, began a speaker series featuring several Republican presidential candidates who ran against Trump in the 2024 GOP primary. The library declined to invite Trump as a speaker, telling Politico that because he is a former president, it wanted a speaker who did not hold that office.
Their support for Harris is as follows: A wave of support from Republican officialsIncluding several staff members during Trump’s first term. Former Vice President Dick Cheney And his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney.
“It’s not just us who are taking a stand here. A lot of people who worked for Donald Trump have said they don’t support Donald Trump coming back as president. I think that speaks volumes, because we know him,” said Olivia Troy, a former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, before Harris and Trump debated Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Troy, former Trump administration press secretary Stephanie Grisham, former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger and former Georgia lieutenant governor Jeff Duncan are all scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention in August.
The fresh endorsements come as the Harris campaign works to pull support away from Trump in a race that remains within the margin of error in key battleground states. CBS News Poll. Outside groups and campaigns have collaborated to target voters in key states who voted for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Republican primary earlier this year.
CBS News Poll Polls this month in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin show that only a small number of undecided voters remain. Harris and Trump are almost unanimous among their party’s voters, but Harris is slightly ahead of Trump among moderate voters who say they still have time to make a final decision in those states.
“The choice between truth and lies demands support for Harris-Waltz. The choice between freedom and the suppression of freedom demands support for Harris-Waltz. The choice between serving the people and serving the few forces us to support Harris-Waltz,” Reagan White House staffers wrote in a letter.
