Imagine for a moment that you’re a single woman who has been asked out by a guy that your friends know. They’ve socialized with him, worked with him, even worked for him. In total, you know 44 different people that know him, and of those 44 people, only 4 give him a good recommendation. That’s right, 40 of the 44 people who know this guy say you shouldn’t go out with him. What would you do?
If you’re like most people, you wouldn’t go out with someone who 40 out of 44 people say you shouldn’t date because that person can’t be trusted, doesn’t have the best of intentions in dating you, and is otherwise wholly unfit as a potential date.
As voters in the United States, that is the situation we face with the upcoming Presidential election. During his Presidency, 44 different people served in Donald Trump’s cabinet. And of those 44 people, 40 say they cannot endorse him to be president again. They say he can’t be trusted. They say he doesn’t put the interests of the country first. And they say he is unfit to be anywhere near the oval office.
Of course, those 40 people are not alone in their opposition to Trump becoming President again. There are many other Republicans who think that Donald Trump is unfit for office.
Two of the more well know Republicans opposing Trump are former Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), both of whom served on the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6 coup attempt. They saw the evidence, they are intimately familiar with Trump’s wrongdoing, and they have come forward to endorse Kamala Harris.
In that same vein, Trump’s own Vice-President, Mike Pence, has gone on the record saying that what Trump did leading up to January 6 was illegal and has branded Trump as unfit to serve in the presidency. When a president’s own vice-president says that the former president isn’t fit for office, we should definitely listen.
But that’s not all. More than 200 Republicans who worked for Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and who worked on the presidential campaigns of Republicans John McCain and Mitt Romney, have stepped forward to denounce Donald Trump. In a public letter obtained by USA Today, the Republicans who signed the letter predicted that a Trump victory in November would be a potential disaster for the nation, and they called on their fellow Republicans to vote for Kamala Harris.
“At home, another four years of Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership, this time focused on advancing the dangerous goals of Project 2025, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions,. Abroad, democratic movements will be irreparably jeopardized as Trump and his acolyte JD Vance kowtow to dictators like Vladimir Putin while turning their backs on our allies. We can’t let that happen.”
Over 100 Republican national security leaders who worked for Reagan, H.W. Bush, W. Bush, and Trump have also penned a letter condemning Donald Trump and endorsing Harris.
“Donald Trump cannot be trusted ‘to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic . . . and bear true faith and allegiance to the same.’ We believe that Kamala Harris can, and we urge other Americans to join us in supporting her.”
In addition, a bi-partisan group of more than 700 national security leaders recently endorsed Kamala Harris, saying:
“We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles. First, we believe America’s national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe American democracy is invaluable. Each generation has a responsibility to defend it. That is why we, the undersigned, proudly endorse Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States.”
You may also note that the only other living former Republican President, George W. Bush, has not endorsed Trump. It is very unusual for a former President not to endorse the candidate from his party. And although he hasn’t done it yet, rumor has it that Bush will eventually endorse Harris for President.
But wait, there’s more. At the Democratic National Convention, several Republicans spoke, condemning Trump and endorsing the Democratic nominee for President. In addition to Kinzinger, former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham; former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan; Mesa, Arizona Mayor John Giles; and former advisor to President George W. Bush and Vice-President Mike Pence, Olivia Troye–all Republicans–spoke at the convention, condemning Trump and encouraging their fellow Republicans to vote for Harris.
It’s not all that unusual for a handful of members of one party to go against that party’s presidential nominee. What is unusual is the sheer number of Republicans condemning Trump, and the level that those people have reached within the party and the government. These are the people who know Trump best. They are the people that know the presidency best. And all of them believe that Donald Trump is unfit for office.
So, when you go into the voting booth, think about what the people who know Donald Trump best think of him. Don’t date that guy. You can do better. Much better.