Several former Trump administration officials are speaking out in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, warning of the risks of electing their former boss to a second term.
Former chief of staff John Kelly told the New York Times that former President Trump “likes a dictator's approach to government.”
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told Bob Woodward that Trump is “a fascist through and through,” and multiple reporters have been on the campaign trail in recent days warning Trump is unfit to be president. I am doing it.
The flood of statements came as voters headed to early voting in what is expected to be a close election.
Few officials are backing Vice President Harris, but their warnings are reflected in her campaign's efforts to reach out to moderates and Republicans skeptical of supporting Trump in November.
Harris highlighted Kelly's comments Wednesday in remarks from her official residence in an effort to keep them front and center in the news cycle.
“Donald Trump is becoming increasingly volatile and unstable, and someone like John Kerry will not be there to serve as guardrails for his tendencies and actions in a second term,” Harris said. said.
“We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unlimited power. The question in 13 days will be: What do the American people want? That's true,” Harris added.
Kelly, a retired four-star general, served as Trump's chief of staff for about 16 months and has previously been quoted in articles alleging Trump's disdain for military veterans. Tuesday's New York Times Interview published In it, Kelly said Trump met the definition of a fascist and recalled that the former president had expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler.
A Trump campaign spokesperson dismissed Kelly's comments as a “debunked story.”
“John Kelly did not serve the president well during his time as chief of staff, and now suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, which makes it clear that the lies he has concocted,” Stephen Chan said in a statement. I am completely baffled by the story that has been uncovered.”
“President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women, but Kamala Harris has completely disrespected the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, including Gate 13.”
Kelly is not the only former administration official to publicly warn about the dangers of Trump's re-election.
Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2019 to September 2023, has previously said he was concerned that President Trump posed a threat to democracy. In Woodward's upcoming book, Milley goes a step further, calling the Republican candidate “a deep-rooted fascist” and “the most dangerous person to this country.”
Mark Esper, who served as Trump's secretary of defense for 16 months, has been vocal in recent weeks about how Trump might use the military for political purposes in his second term.
John Bolton, who served as President Trump's national security adviser for 17 months, has regularly appeared on television to warn that the former president lacks a coherent national security strategy that goes beyond self-interest. .
Lower-level aides are also becoming more active in the run-up to the election. Sarah Matthews, President Trump's former deputy press secretary who resigned on January 6, 2021, appeared at multiple events in Pennsylvania this month to speak out about her opposition to Trump.
At one event, Matthews was joined by Trump administration alumni Alyssa Farrar Griffin and Cassidy Hutchinson. Farrah Griffin is an outspoken Trump critic who served as White House communications director, and Hutchinson was a close aide to Mark Meadows in the Trump White House and testified about the events of January 6.
Matthews said in an interview with The Hill that Kelly's comments were a result of Kelly's military background and the fact that as chief of staff he would have worked more closely with Trump than anyone else. In particular, he argued that more weight should be given to voters.
“When you put together so many former Trump officials coming out and saying he's unfit, that's going to have an impact and change people's support for him,” Matthews said. I think I started to have doubts.”
But some strategists are skeptical that Trump will overcome the criticism, given that voters' views of Trump are so entrenched. Much of what Mr. Kelly told the Times has also been previously reported.
“Has there ever been a story in Donald Trump's political history that exploded on the ground because he said something that significantly influenced an election? No,” said Doug Hay, a former Republican National Committee spokesman. spoke.
Some pointed to the timing of Kerry's comments, two weeks before Election Day, to suggest they were a political attack that many voters might ignore.
“Do you think half the American people are voting for fascists? No, that's just an outrageous statement,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said Wednesday in an interview with Connell McShane on “NewsNation He told “Now''.
“Such statements are a little outrageous. They don't really move the needle. What moves the needle is who will make my life better? It's that simple,” he added. Ta.
Harris and her campaign have made a concerted effort to appeal to Republicans and former Trump voters who may be tired or nervous about sending Trump back to the White House. Special outreach is underway to voters who supported Nikki Haley in the Republican primary. These voters are critical to Harris' path to victory as she struggles to match President Biden's support among Black and Latino voters in 2020.
This week, the Harris campaign placed former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a fierce critic of President Trump, in the battleground state. Harris and Cheney appeared together earlier this week at events in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, holding signs that read “Country over party.”
The Harris campaign says thousands of Haley primary voters in battleground states could support her. But skeptics of this strategy argue that voters concerned about the events of January 6 and Trump's personality are likely already cornered by Harris.
A Marist College poll released last week showed Harris leading Trump by 5 points nationally. In that opinion pollthe vice president garnered support from 6% of Republicans, while Mr. Trump garnered support from 4% of Democrats.
But there are signs that constant criticism from former officials may resonate with voters.
At the Univision town hall, a voter named Ramiro Gonzalez told President Trump that he is a former registered Republican and wanted to give the former president a chance to win back his vote.
“I'm wondering why people so close to you and your administration stopped supporting you. So why would I want to support you?” Gonzalez asked.
President Trump gave a lengthy response, calling January 6 a “day of love” and dismissing former officials who criticized him as disgruntled former employees.
“When you fire someone, they say bad things. When I fired Mr. John Bolton or fired any of these people, he was a terrible person. When you fire people, they go out and say, if I didn't fire people, they wouldn't say that,” Trump responded.
gonzalez spoke to Univision after the event. He won't vote for Trump.
